Sixers Reach Deal With Free Agent Guard

As the Sixers continue their contract negotiations with restricted free agents Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, they have reached an agreement with four year NBA free agent guard Royal Ivey.  Ivey played for the Milwaukee Bucks last year and spent the first three seasons of his career with the Atlanta Hawks, who drafted him in the second round in '04 out of the University of Texas.

Ivey is a 6'4" guard who played inconsistent minutes with the Bucks last season. He averaged less than 20 minutes per game, appearing in 75 games, and even started 20 of them.  He averaged 5.6 points per game and shot under 40 percent. 

He brings a certain toughness defensively and coaches have called him an underrated offensive player.  He will most likely serve as the third point guard behind Andre Miller and Williams, but also could see some minutes behind Willie Green at the off-guard spot as well.

Ivey, whose contract won't be officially signed until Monday, is expected to be getting a two year deal at the league minimum for a four year player, $854,957.  Signing Elton Brand earlier this month has put the Sixers at the cap max, meaning they can only sign free agents to the league minimum based on their NBA experience. 

With this signing the Sixers now have nine players under contract, with Iguodala and Williams expected to be resigned shortly.  NBA teams are allowed to carry 15 players (with only 12 being active for the game) so expect the Sixers to sign four more players before training camp begins in late September, hopefully getting a veteran shooter with a bit more experience than Ivey. 

Personally this move doesn't do much for me, but they have to fill out the roster and who knows, maybe this guy will turn out to be more than they bargained for.  I don't think we'll see any name veteran get signed until closer to training camp.

NOTE: Ivey was suspended for three games prior to the final game of last season after punching Chicago's Aaron Gray in the groin.  Therefore he will miss the first two games of the upcoming season.  What's great is that the Sixers now have two players who have been suspended for groin related punches; Ivey joins Reggie Evans in this exclusive club.