BOSTONIn sports, change is inevitable. Even the best teams have to add or subtract a piece from year to year in order to keep the wins coming.
But for the 76ers, the off-season changes could be much more significant than simply adding a couple of pieces. Sure, the Sixers made an unlikely dash to Game 7 of the conference semifinals with virtually no turnover on the roster, but that was because of the lockout and the change in ownership. That wasnt ideal, but for the compressed 2011-12 season it seemed to serve the Sixers well.
This summer will be much different.
I hope our guys are going to grow from this, I hope we grow as a team, coach Doug Collins said after the Game 7 loss to Boston. We have to add some more pieces, we know that. Owner Josh Harris is totally committed to that. On a day like today I always tell our players to make sure they look around the locker room and look at your teammates. Youre forever bonded, but this team will not be the same team next year. Thats the nature of sports.
Certainly when one listened to Collins talk about his team throughout the postseason run, its not just a missing piece or two the team needs. The Sixers are still missing a big man and a scorer. Imagine if you will a veteran point guard like Jameer Nelson or Steve Nash dishing to Jrue Holiday or Evan Turner on the wings or maybe Pau Gasol down low.
Could that happen? Its too early to tell, but given the state of the Sixers roster and contracts, there might be a lot of spots to fill.
As it stands, only Holiday, Turner, Nik Vucevic and Thad Young are guaranteed to be back next season. Rookie Lavoy Allen, who stepped up during the postseason also will likely return, too. But Spencer Hawes, Jodie Meeks and Sam Young are free agents and Lou Williams can opt out of his contract and seek a starting job somewhere else.
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Meanwhile, veterans Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala could most definitely be playing elsewhere next season. Given that both players are owed 32.8 million next season, yet have an expiring and one year remaining on their contracts, makes them perfect candidates to be traded.
Iguodala, more so than Brand, could be the Sixers biggest chip. In fact, rumors are already brewing about a potential deal with the Lakers that would send Iguodala to Los Angeles for big man Gasol. There certainly makes sense for both teams given the contracts of the two players (Gasol is owed 38 million over the next two years) as well as the fact that Iguodala and Lakers star Kobe Bryant share the same agent.
Better yet, Iguodala seems to be the quintessential Scottie Pippen-type in that he is the defensive stopper and sometime scorer on a team that already has a star.
Still, its too early to project what will happen in the next month or so. When asked about his future, Iguodala was didnt have much to suggest.
Im not going to put too much thought into that right now, Iguodala said. Ive got a big summer ahead of me, and Im focusing on that. Well see how it works out and then well see from there. But thats out of my hands. I dont want to get into that right now.
Iguodala very well could spend much of the summer playing for Team USA in the Olympics in London, however, his future with the Sixers is cloudy at best. The same goes for Brand, who has heard what folks have suggested the Sixers should do with him this off-season. The 13-year vet has been around the block a time or two and understands what could go down this summer.
Its too early, but Im a team player. Whatever is best for the organization then thats what they need to do and I understand that, Brand said. Im a realist so well see what happens.
Brand is the heart-and-soul of the Sixers and perhaps the catalyst behind what made them tick this season. It was Brand who got all of the players together in Los Angeles last summer during the lockout for an impromptu training camp and it was Brand who played with one debilitating injury after another during the past three seasons.
However, the Sixers are a business and if Williams, Hawes, Meeks, Brand and Iguodala are taken off the payroll, the Sixers will have just four players under contract for 2012-13 at approximately 17.26 million. That gives the Sixers more than 40 million to fill out the roster this summer, not including the 1.4 earmarked for the No. 15 draft pick.
So as the seconds ticked off the scoreboard at the Garden in Game 7 and the season came to an end, the Sixers could be closing the book on another era of their history, too. Almost without warning, the realization that next year could be very different dawned on players like Iguodala.
You think about it sometimes, but with the run that we made it was out of our minds, Iguodala said. A lot of different teams are going to have different looks next year. There are some guys here who are going to be somewhere else next year so when you talk about making the most of the moment, we tried to make the most of every moment we were together on the court.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com