We continue recapping the Sixers' season by evaluating each member of the roster.
Today, Thaddeus Young:
Position: Power Forward
Status: Signed through 2015-16 (player option)
Signature game of 2013-14
Thaddeus Young scored a season-high 30 points four times this season, but the one that stood out above the others was his performance in Portland on Jan. 4, 2014 when the Sixers won by two points.
It was a fourth consecutive win at the time, all on the road.
Young shot 14 of 20 from the field. He attempted just two free throws. He also grabbed six rebounds.
NBA
From April 3, 2014
The seven-game second-round series with the Celtics two springs ago seems like a distant memory, and maybe that is because so much has changed with the organization.
The front office has been revamped, the entire coaching staff has changed and only Thaddeus Young remains from that playoff roster.
“It is unbelievable,” Young said of being the lone survivor (see story). “You say how can a team change so much in two years, I mean there are 13 or 14 guys that are different than the ones that were here. You have to just try and go with the flow, but I definitely miss some of those guys.”
Young in 2013-14
Young averaged career highs in points (17.9) and assists (2.3). He attempted the most three pointers of his seven-year career with 292 and he made 31 percent of them.
Young was the Sixers' leading scorer and absolutely a needed veteran voice in the locker room after the departure of Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes at the trade deadline.
Prospectus
Everyone expected Young to be traded this past season. He is a well-respected player who produces on the court but has a hefty contract.
Young will make $9,160,870 for the 2014-15 season and then, if he exercises his player option, he stands to make $9,721,740 the following season.
For a team that had the lowest payroll this past season, Young’s salary would appear too high for management’s liking. However, there is a salary minimum teams must spend, and currently for next season the Sixers have less than $27 million committed to contracts.
Young is a player who every year has added to his game. He brings energy and a winning attitude to the job daily. Young has said after the NBA draft in June he would like to have a conversation with management to see what its thoughts are about the team’s future and where he may, or may not, fit into it.
On Thaddeus Young…
“My respect for Thad was always high just from a scouting perspective. Now that I have spent an entire season with him and seeing him endure this type of rebuild and losing three friends and to go through such a long losing streak and for him to still be in the gym, still leading us and still competing, I can’t speak highly enough about him the person.”
- Brett Brown April 3, 2014