Sixers make minor move before deadline

Talk about a letdown. After hearing rumors about the Sixers shedding salary by moving Andre Iguodala or Samuel Dalembert for weeks, this is all they could come up with? The Sixers have traded Royal Ivey, Primoz Brezec and a second round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson. Have you ever seen a more irrelevant trade?

Basically, this deal comes down to two teams trading deep bench players, as Ivey gets just under 10 minutes a game for the Sixers while Brezec has only played in 7 games. Apparently the big prize in the deal for the Sixers is Meeks, who is a rookie with a decent scoring touch. Elson is a complete nonfactor big man who has been injured most of the season, much like Brezec. To me, Brezec and Elson are a wash so the Sixers basically swapped a defensive guard in Ivey and a second rounder for a little better scoring with Meeks. The Sixers weren't likely so sign Ivey after this season, anyway, so really the trade boils down even further to the Sixers using a second round pick on Meeks, someone who they targeted in the draft last year.

While Meeks seems to have some decent upside, is this really the best Ed Stefanski could do? He couldn't make any moves to get the team more cap space for next year so they could sign someone to help them rebuild? Sigh, isn't it a great time to be a Sixers fan?

Sixers add back-up center Primoz Brezec

When commenting on the signing of Royal Ivey, I said the Sixers still needed to add a back-up center to round out their roster, and now they have done just that. Slovenian Primoz Brezec, a 7 year NBA veteran who played for the Pistons, Raptors and Bobcats last season, has signed a one year deal with the Sixers. According to Philly.com, the contract is worth approximately 1.1 million, the veteran minimum for a player with 7 years of NBA experience. Brezec is 7 foot 1, and has played in 321 games, starting in 214 of them, and averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He spent most of last season as a back-up, averaging around 10 minutes a game and scoring 2 points and grabbing 1.5 rebounds per game. Brezec's best seasons were from 2004-2007 with the Charlotte Bobcats when he was a starter and scored in double figures for them.

Brezec will make a solid back-up center, but not much should be expected from him. If Samuel Dalembert goes down for a long period of time this coming season, the Sixers would be much better off going small with Elton Brand or Marreese Speights in the middle. It's hard to get too excited about Brezec, he is simply going to slide into the role that Theo Ratliff had for the Sixers last season but he isn't as good of a shot blocker or rebounder as Theo. In other words, Brezec will be fine for the Sixers as long as he plays about 10 minutes a game and not too much is expected from him.

The Sixers now have 12 players under contract for the coming season. I still think the Sixers are a point guard short, but it will need to be a point guard that will actually have an impact on the team, not just a body. It's hard to look at the Sixers as they are currently constituted and think they have improved at all over last years club. For a team that wants to take the next step, the recent additions of Ivey and Brezec aren't going to help the Sixers make any waves in the Eastern Conference.