On July 7th, D.C. United announced the acquisition of Lloyd Sam from the New York Red Bulls in exchange for General Allocation Money (GAM) and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). It was one of several midseason moves the Black-and-Red made to attempt to move up from the near-bottom of the Eastern Conference standings into playoff position. You can say that Sam, who appeared in 16 matches in 2016 for the Red Bulls with only 1 goal and 4 assists, took the new situation as an opportunity to help what was once a rival turn their season around.
Sam’s acquisition was arguably the one that finalized the revitalized United offensive attack.