10:38am: The Sixers have officially re-signed Long, the team confirmed today in a press release. The announcement didn’t reveal the terms of the contract, but it’s believed to be a three-year deal, as noted below.
9:28am: As expected, the Sixers will re-sign Shawn Long after his first 10-day contract with the team expired overnight. In fact, Long won’t merely receive a second 10-day deal from the club. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links), the 76ers are expected to sign the young power forward to a contract that runs for an additional two years after this season.
Over-the-cap teams are generally limited to tacking on one extra year to rest-of-season deals at this time of the season, since the minimum salary exception doesn’t allow deals of more than two years. However, the Sixers can take advantage of having leftover cap room by signing Long to a longer-term pact. According to Pompey, Long’s new deal is expected to include a partial guarantee for 2017/18.
After spending training camp with the Sixers in the fall, Long was waived and landed with Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers. The Louisiana-Lafayette alum was one of the D-League’s most productive players in Delaware, averaging 20.3 PPG and 11.2 RPG with a .538 FG% and earning another look from the Sixers. In four games with the NBA club so far, Long has averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.3 RPG in just 7.8 minutes per contest.
With Long back in the mix, the Sixers will once again have a full 15-man roster. The team could be eligible for a roster exemption to add a 16th man, since four players on the roster have long-term injuries. However, recent reports have suggested Tiago Splitter is getting closer to returning to the court, so Philadelphia may be content to stand pat with 15 players.