ORLANDO - Doug Collins knows that the 76ers haven't had the flashiest offseason.
The coach is OK with that, because he believes the moves the Sixers have made will give the team more versatility on the court this coming season. And, more important, it will give Philadelphia financial flexibility for next offseason.
"You might look at us and say, 'They didn't hit any home runs,' " Collins told reporters here Friday morning. "Well, 'Have they addressed some of the needs?' "
Collins believes so.
He added: "We knew that if we came back with the same team, we didn't think we'd be as good. That's not to take anything away from what our team was, but we had to try to do some things."
Those things included using the NBA's amnesty provision on starting power forward Elton Brand to keep the $18.2 million he is due this season from counting against the salary cap, as well as allowing reserve point guard Lou Williams to sign with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent after his asking price became too high for the Sixers.
To compensate for the loss of the two contributors, the Sixers, who finished 35-31 and lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the second round of the playoffs, added guard Nick Young in free agency. Philadelphia also obtained wingman Dorell Wright from the Golden State Warriors and center Darryl Watkins from New Orleans in a three-team trade.
"One of the things was, we need to get bigger, we need to get stronger, and we need to get some better shooting," Sixers president Rod Thorn said. "So with some of the moves we've done so far, we think we really helped in those type of areas that we really needed help in."
The 6-foot-7 Young was signed to a one-year, $6 million deal and is expected to contribute as a backup at either of the guard positions or small forward. The 27-year-old averaged 14.2 points per game for the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers last season.
The 6-9 Wright is in the final year of his three-year, $11.4 million contract. He averaged 10.3 rebounds and 4.6 rebounds for Golden State last season and will also likely be a backup who garners significant playing time, Collins said.
The Sixers also re-signed second-year power forward Lavoy Allen on Wednesday and are expected to officially re-sign center Spencer Hawes to a two-year, $13 million deal.
With Brand gone, Collins said the Sixers likely would have a starting lineup of point guard Jrue Holiday, shooting guard Andre Iguodala, small forward Evan Turner, power forward Thaddeus Young, and Hawes at center.
Collins and Thorn, however, implied during the Friday interview session that more moves were in the works.
That proved to be the case, as the Sixers signed veteran center Kwame Brown to a two-year, $6 million contract on Friday afternoon.
Adding a backup point guard is now a priority.
With Iguodala approaching a player option after this season for $15.9 million, the Sixers could have an abundance of contracts coming off the books next offseason. That would allow them cap space to become contenders in free agency.
With the budget-savvy transactions, Collins believes the Sixers have done enough to stay competitive in 2012-13.
"One of the things we wanted to do was get bigger on the perimeter and more versatile," Collins said. "We've done that, and I think we've done it very well financially, which I think is the real key."
