Sixers waive Weems, bring back Wood
OAKLAND, Calif. - Brett Brown said it was "without a doubt" tough to waive Sonny Weems on Easter Sunday. "I wouldn't say anybody's numb to it," said Brown, the 76ers coach. "I would say that he understands it. And it did not catch him off guard."
OAKLAND, Calif. - Brett Brown said it was "without a doubt" tough to waive Sonny Weems on Easter Sunday.
"I wouldn't say anybody's numb to it," said Brown, the 76ers coach. "I would say that he understands it. And it did not catch him off guard."
The Sixers had no choice but to waive the seldom-used recent addition as they signed Christian Wood to a second 10-day contract to depth to their frontcourt.
Jahlil Okafor had season-ending surgery last week to repair a torn right meniscus. Nerlens Noel missed his third consecutive game Sunday with a right knee contusion. Richaun Holmes was also sidelined in the matchup against the Golden State Warriors with a strained right Achilles tendon.
It doesn't look like Holmes will return anytime soon; Noel is listed as day-to-day.
Wood received a phone call from the Sixers at about 1:30 a.m. Eastern time Sunday. He boarded a plane and arrived in Oakland at about noon Pacific time.
This marks the 6-foot-11, 220-pounder's third stint with Sixers, and the second time he was called up from their NBA Development League team, the Delaware 87ers.
Wood made the Sixers' season-opening roster as an undrafted rookie free agent out of UNLV. The team waived him to make room for Elton Brand on Jan. 4. The 6-foot-11, 220-pounder averaged 3.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 8.1 minutes in 14 appearances with Sixers.
He signed a second 10-day contract with the team on March 4, but he was released to make room for Weems three days later.
Weems never really fit into the Sixers' long-term plan. They signed him as a way to reach the salary-cap floor and received credit for taking on his $2.8 million, full-season salary.
The Sixers were about $2.6 million below the salary-cap floor of $63 million. They actually will have to pay about $600,000 of his salary. The team would have owed its players an additional $2.6 million if it didn't pick up Weems or any other player to reach the salary-cap floor by the end of the season.
He averaged 1.0 point and 1.6 rebounds and 11 minutes in seven games with the Sixers.
