Sixers stand pat at trade d...

As I said, this is what I expected. This certainly isn't surprising. It may not even be the wrong decision. But it is a little bit of a buzz kill.

Regardless of how well this team has played recently (these last two disappointing games notwithstanding), this team isn't a contender. Sure, if they get the exact right draw, they might be able to sneak out of the first round. Anything beyond that would be a complete shock. I understand that it's hard to make a daring move when you're in playoff contention, but unless I'm confident Andre Miller was going to be here a few more years, I think it is imperative to get value for him. That may happen in the offseason in a sign and trade, but the Sixers best position of leverage was right now during the season, when he didn't have a contract to scare teams off, and when he could be dangled as that missing piece for a very good team (Orlando or Portland).

This team now has a heckuva lot of questions. Is Andre Miller the point guard of the future? Can Iguodala and Young be the wing tandem of the future? Can Elton Brand return and co-exist? Is Samuel Dalember the future at center?

On the plus side, the team didn't do anything colossally bad, and with young talent like Young and Speights on the team, the opportunity was there. This team isn't one piece away from winning a title, and doing anything with any of the aforementioned players can only be done if you're SURE the piece you're getting in return puts you into contention. For every Kevin Garnett trade, there's two Chris Webber's.

That being said, it would have been nice to get one of those previously mentioned questions answered today, rather than avoiding dealing with these problems until the offseason in an effort to make an ill-fated playoff push. This team is in the deadzone that is a .500 basketball team, and barring an explosion of Young or Speights turning into a true franchise player (which isn't entirely impossible), the hard work for Ed Stefanski begins now. I've said in the past that the hardest thing to do in the NBA is not to rebuild, but to take a .500 team into title contention. That's the phase of the rebuilding Ed Stefanski finds himself in. Good luck, Ed.