21-year old small forward Thaddeus Young needs to take the next step for the 76ers to improve as a team. He played in 67 games (45 starts) for the Sixers last season and he averaged 32.0 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Young has now played in 216 games (138 starts) in his three years with the Sixers and he has averaged 29.1 minutes, 12.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Young is a good player but the Sixers need him to step up a bit in 2010-11.

26-year old SG/SF Andre Iguodala is the most dependable player on the 76ers as he almost never misses a game. He started all 82 games for the Sixers last season and he averaged 38.9 minutes, 17.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. I can definitely see why teams like the Cavs were trying to trade for Iguodala near the deadline. He has now played in 486 games (all starts) in his six years with the Sixers and he has averaged 38.1 minutes, 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game. So Iguodala has only missed six games in six years which makes him a player the Sixers will be building around.

Forget Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert for the rest of the season. The 76ers need to give Marreese Speights big minutes to see what he can really do. Speights played 32 minutes last night against the Pistons in which he scored 21 points, he grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and he had 1 steal. He has now played in 56 games (1 start) this season for the Sixers and he is averaging 16.0 minutes, 8.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

The 76ers tried to trade Samuel Dalembert this season but no one would take him because of his gigantic contract. Dalembert played in 71 games (70 starts) for the Sixers last season and he is averaging 25.8 minutes, 7.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game. Dalembert is shooting 53.3% from the floor but most of his shots are putbacks and dunks which explains his %. Dalembert is still a good rebounder and defender so he is not hurting the team when he is on the court.

The 6′11″, 250 lbs. Samuel Dalembert may not ever be an offensive force, but he really does a great job rebounding and anchoring the 76er’s defense.  Dalembert is only averaging 7.5 points, but he plays just 26 minutes per game and averages 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.  His 2.2 blocks per game is 3rd best in the league, behind only Dwight Howard (2.7 bpg) of the Orlando Magic and Josh Smith (2.22 bpg) of the Atlanta Hawks.  He has also been playing with a very heavy heart lately, as Dalembert is a native of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti which was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake on January 12th.  The 76ers give up 100 points per game, and without Dalembert it would be a lot more.  So, I don’t think the 76ers should trade Dalembert, as he is one of the few players on the Sixers’ roster that plays good defense.  They do need some more scoring from the low post though, so I understand why they would put him on the trading block.