Sixers exercise options on three players, Christmas arrested

The Philadelphia 76ers have exercised options on three players — Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights and Jason Smith.  All three are now under contract through the 2011 season.

“Thaddeus, Jason and Marreese are three of our young players who have done everything asked of them and continue to show improvement every time they step on the court,” Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski said in a statement (via the Philadelphia Inquirer). “We are excited about the way they have developed to this point, and we are looking forward to them continuing their careers with the Sixers.”

Young, the Sixers’ first-round pick in 2007, saw his production jump significantly with his expanded role and increase in minutes in his second season.  He averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game last year.

Smith, who suffered a season-ending knee injury at the end of the 2008 training camp, figures to be one of the more important bench players.  As coach Eddie Jordan said of Smith when he was coaching the Wizards, “‘…this guy is big, he’s athletic, he’s hustling, he can make a shot, and we have to keep his activity away from the paint.’…”

Speights, the team’s first-round pick last year, showed flashes of offensive brilliance last year, but he was given minutes inconsistently.  This pre-season, Speights is averaging 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds (7th in NBA) in only 21.6 minutes per game.

However, Speights was indirectly involved in some (potential) legal trouble last night.

Last night, Dionte Christmas, who was cut by the Sixers, was arrested while driving Speights’ car, per the Philadelphia Daily News (via Liberty Ballers).  Although Christmas was driving without a license, the more serious issue is that there was a loaded handgun registered to Speights under the driver’s seat.

Stay tuned…

Tags: Dionte Christmas, Jason Smith, Marreese Speights, Thaddeus Young