Check out the original article from Philly.com, here.
--
Thaddeus Young’s
reported request to be traded by the Sixers, as first publicized by SB
Nation’s Jake Fischer, doesn’t come as a big surprise, except for maybe in
the fact that Evan Turner didn’t do it first.
Young’s reported
request is reasonable, and will more than likely be obliged by the
organization, as it should be.
I keep saying
‘reported request’ because Young denied
the report Friday morning at Sixers shootaround.
“I just think how it’s all funny that
it’s ‘sources’ said I asked to be traded,” Young stated.
When pressed further about the
initial report from Fischer, and if he had indeed asked to be traded, Young replied,
“no.”
Regardless of whether or not he did
in fact ask to be traded, Young deserves better than the current Sixers’
situation.
Young, the
longest tenured Sixer, has been nothing short of a consummate professional in
his seven seasons, all the way down to the way he reportedly asked out; behind
closed doors, rather than mentioning it to the media.
Young has had
five different coaches in his seven seasons as a Sixer; five! A new coach and a
new system almost every single season would be enough to make most players pop
their top, but never did you see Young appear in the news for anything
negative.
Instead, Young
has played small forward for the Sixers, and he has played power forward. He started,
then came off the bench, then started again. He shot three’s and then he didn’t shoot three’s; pretty
much anything the organization and it’s array of short-tenured coaches asked of
him, he did, without a public complaint, in the hopes of helping turn the team
into a true contender. The team appeared to be well on its way a couple years
ago, and many thought the addition of Andrew Bynum two summers ago would push
the Sixers over the hump and into the East’s elite. As we all know, that didn’t
work out so well.
As currently
structured, the Sixers sit several seasons away from true contention, and Young
isn’t getting any well, younger.
Considering the
Sixers obvious intention to use this season as a developing ground for the
future of the franchise, and the fact that Young’s place in said future is far
from crystal clear, it is only logical that he would like to land elsewhere. He
would be an excellent addition to a contending team as a utility player, as his
versatility and selflessness would allow him to adapt almost anywhere.
Often
players catch flack for requesting a permanent trip out of town, but in this
situation Young’s reported wish would be warranted. This is not a malcontent
giving up on his team because of turbulence, which he has endured for the
majority of his seven professional seasons. Young has sacrificed a lot (stats
and recognition namely) for the Sixers over the course of those seven seasons,
and now realizing that he may not fit into the franchise’s future, he simply
wants an opportunity to contend while he can still contribute at a high level.
“I’m still only
25 years old, but I’m going into my seventh season,” Young
joked with me at Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers Summit over the offseason,
alluding to the fact that despite still being young in age, he has a lot of miles
on him, and NBA careers are not infinite.
The losing this
season has taken its toll on Young, and understandably so. Young has never gotten
past the second round of the playoffs, and instead of building off of their
semi-finals success of two seasons ago, the team went in the exact opposite
direction. The current Sixers situation is no place for a versatile veteran
during his prime playing years, and Young knows it.
"I'm used to playing with guys who are four-
or five-year veterans in this league," he
told the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. "And they can play. Then you have
one or two good guys who come in here fresh and are trying to make a name for
themselves."
Many of the guys
playing alongside Young on the Sixers this year will consider the season a
success if they are still in the league come next fall. Young’s success scale
is slightly different after establishing himself over the course of seven
seasons, and his efforts could be better spent elsewhere than on a team that is
basically holding tryouts for the future.
The truth is, Young was likely to be traded this
season regardless of a request. When the right deal presents itself, expect
Hinkie and his team to take it. There is no clear spot for Young in the
franchise’s future, and his versatility should net him some value, which the
Sixers are stockpiling.
At this point, Young’s tenure with the Sixers
appears to be approaching its conclusion. Hopefully a deal gets done sooner
than later, because Young deserves a different place to play, away from this
season’s Sixers.
No comments:
Post a Comment