Monday, August 3, 2009

Not gone for long: Sixers re-sign Royal Ivey

Perhaps directly responding to my criticism that they were napping through this offseason, the Sixers have finally made a move in free agency. Unfortunately, this move isn't one worth getting too excited about because it is someone we are all too familiar with.

After opting out of his contract with the Sixers and becoming a free agent back in June, Royal Ivey has decided that the grass wasn't any greener anywhere else and instead will return to Philadelphia. Ivey originally turned down the remaining year on his contract with the Sixers where he was set to make 959,111 and instead signed a one year contract just above the league minimum, which is 959,111 for a player with 5 years of experience. So, it looks like Ivey opted out to make a few more bucks, although he won't see a substantial raise.

Ivey staying or leaving was never going to make much of a difference to the Sixers. He played sparingly last season, scoring very little but he did play solid defense when given the chance. He enters the guard rotation but isn't really an option at point guard, where the Sixers seem content with letting Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday run the show. Ivey will fight for playing time with Willie Green and Andre Iguodala at shooting guard, a fight that he will rarely win.

The signing of Ivey gives the Sixers 11 players on their roster for next season. Let's hope they still have a few more moves in them because this roster seems incomplete. A back-up center is still a must and another point guard would be nice.

Guards:
Jrue Holiday
Andre Iguodala
Willie Green
Lou Williams
Royal Ivey

Forwards:
Elton Brand
Thaddeus Young
Jason Kapono
Marreese Speights
Jason Smith

Centers:
Samuel Dalembert

Click here to see How they were built: Sixers, a complete listing of salaries and how each Sixer was acquired. I will update it with Royal Ivey's exact salary once it is announced.

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