Philadelphia had their big man rotation set. Coach Doug Collins said Kwame Brown was going to be the starter. (Why? Because he felt his blood pressure was too low.), There were also Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen on the roster to play the five, plus the Sixers just drafted 6’11” power forward Arnett Moultrie.
But when a player like Andrew Bynum becomes available and lets you move the Andre Iguodala contract you have looked to shed in the right deal for a while, you jump on it. Philadelphia did that as part of the Dwight Howard to the Lakers trade, a four-team trade that makes sense for everyone save Orlando (and you can argue they got what they wanted, I just think they might have gotten better offers).
The good news is Brown is no longer the starter. But Philly has more bigs than it needs, something most teams would kill for. As Sam Amico speculates at Fox Sports Ohio (as have others around the league), it’s logical to think they could move one of those bigs in a trade down the line. Not Bynum… well, unless he says he will not re-sign with them. But we’re a long way from that. Rather Brown, Allen and Hawes potentially could be moved.
As Hawes, Brown and Allen were all signed this summer to new deals, they cannot be moved until mid-December, so look for this to be more of a deadline deal. There are no talks now, but just saying watch this because it makes sense.
In the short term, watch Collins try to go big in an Eastern Conference where the powers of Miami and Boston are doing the opposite. Collins will likely start Bynum at the five and Hawes at the four, which is an experiment because Hawes has never played that position. But if it works it makes the Sixers a matchup problem for everyone (save maybe the Lakers).
That could work, at least until the Sixers make a move.
