Sixers Extend Offer Sheet To Thomas

PHILADELPHIA – June 30, 2003 – The Philadelphia 76ers have extended an offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Kenny Thomas. Teams cannot begin signing free agents until July 16. Since Thomas is a restricted free agent, the Sixers have the right to match any other offer.

Thomas, a six-foot-seven, 245 pound forward, came to the Sixers from Houston as part of three-deal with Denver on Dec. 18, 2002. As a Sixer, he quickly established himself as a rebounding presence and would go on to record a career-best 529 boards and 8.0 rebounds per game. Overall, he averaged 10.1 points per game in 66 contests (42 starts). As a Sixer, Thomas averaged 10.2 points with a Sixer-high 8.5 rebounds per game in 46 contests (28 starts). He missed 13 games during the season due to injury, 10 with Philadelphia.

Over the final 15 contests of the season, Thomas recorded a double-double in 10 of those games, and averaged 12.7 points and 11.7 rebounds. He had a total of 17 double-double games with both the Sixers and Rockets. The University of New Mexico product had 20 rebound efforts at Orlando on March 31, 2003, and at Boston on April 10, 2003. In the game at Orlando, he scored 24 points to become the first Sixers with a 20-20 game since Derrick Coleman did the feat on Feb. 20, 1997, against the L.A. Clippers.