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The Philadelphia 76ers and restricted free agent Andre Iguodala have agreed to a six-year, $80 million contract, league sources tell ESPN.com.
The athletic and exciting 6-6 forward/guard has improved his scoring average in each of his first four seasons, and promises to be a mainstay on a Sixers team that recently signed former Clippers big man Elton Brand to an estimated $82 million free-agent contract.
Point guard Andre Miller, center Samuel Dalembert, and promising bench players like Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams make the Sixers an emergent force in the East. The young team managed to extend the Detroit Pistons to six games in the opening round of this year's playoffs -- and that was even before it added one of the NBA's best post scorers in Brand. Now the Sixers will be a popular pick to join the league's elite for many years to come.
If the Sixers had not been able to sign Iguodala, the 24-year-old could have played this season for them after signing a qualifying offer, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. In that scenario, the Sixers could have lost their most exciting young star without any compensation.
Iguodala and the team had an opportunity to work out a contract extension last summer but could not come to an agreement. Talks this offseason moved slowly until the last 24 hours, when, sources say, the team significantly increased its offer.
Although the basic terms of the deal have been agreed to, the new contract has yet to be finalized and signed.
76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski took over a franchise on the wane last December, replacing the fired Billy King. The franchise had been the talk of the NBA as recently as 2001, when Allen Iverson and Larry Brown took the organization on a thrill ride to the NBA Finals, where the Sixers briefly held a lead in the series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The athletic and exciting 6-6 forward/guard has improved his scoring average in each of his first four seasons, and promises to be a mainstay on a Sixers team that recently signed former Clippers big man Elton Brand to an estimated $82 million free-agent contract.
Point guard Andre Miller, center Samuel Dalembert, and promising bench players like Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams make the Sixers an emergent force in the East. The young team managed to extend the Detroit Pistons to six games in the opening round of this year's playoffs -- and that was even before it added one of the NBA's best post scorers in Brand. Now the Sixers will be a popular pick to join the league's elite for many years to come.
If the Sixers had not been able to sign Iguodala, the 24-year-old could have played this season for them after signing a qualifying offer, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. In that scenario, the Sixers could have lost their most exciting young star without any compensation.
Iguodala and the team had an opportunity to work out a contract extension last summer but could not come to an agreement. Talks this offseason moved slowly until the last 24 hours, when, sources say, the team significantly increased its offer.
Although the basic terms of the deal have been agreed to, the new contract has yet to be finalized and signed.
76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski took over a franchise on the wane last December, replacing the fired Billy King. The franchise had been the talk of the NBA as recently as 2001, when Allen Iverson and Larry Brown took the organization on a thrill ride to the NBA Finals, where the Sixers briefly held a lead in the series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
