SIXERS NEWS

The NBA draft was tonight and with 2 first round picks it proved to be an interesting night for the Sixers. With 12th pick they selected Georgia Tech small forward Thaddeus Young, a freakish athlete with miles of potential and upside. He may not be able to help the Sixers right away as he needs to get tougher on the defensive side of the ball, but he's a scorer and an energy guy and success of the Chicago bulls has proven that if you put enough guys like that on your team you can go places. Not to mention with some hard work and determination he could become a superstar in a couple years. With their next pick (number 21) the Sixers selected shooting guard Daequan Cook of Ohio State and promptly traded him to the heat for their 20th pick, 7 foot power forward Jason Smith, out of Colorado State. Smith could be the big guy the Sixers have been looking for years. He needs to get stronger, but he is a great rebounder and shooter. In fact he was one of the best free throw shooters in nation last year, which is incredible for a 7 footer. He is also another one of those energy guys like Young who can run the floor and score. In other words he could be pretty good player with a little time in the weight room. With 30th pick, their third and last in the first round, they selected Petteri Koponen a young point guard from Finland. However he was also traded away to Portland for their 42nd pick, Derrick Byars a 6-7, 230 pound guard/forward out of Vanderbilt. Byars is another high scoring energy guy and one of the sweetest shooting players in college basketball a year ago in fact he was a projected 1st round pick, so getting him this slow was somewhat of a steal. Potentially, he could team up with Rodney Carney to provide the Sixers with a dynamic duo off the bench. Finally, the Sixers finished their draft with the 38th pick of the second round. There they took a Center from Ukraine, whose name I can't remember, mostly because they traded him away to Utah for the 55th pick of draft, Forward Herbert Hill out of Providence. Hill led the big East in scoring with 19.9 points per game, and was second in rebounding with 9.8 a game. At 6-10, 240 pounds Hill gives the Sixers some more sixe off their bench, which could come in handy if they wind up trading Steven Hunter or Joe Smith.