Bynum in, Iguoadala out. What next?

Newly acquired Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

        Philadelphia 76ers fans have to be excited for what has transpired over the last couple days in Philly. The Sixers have a new face of their franchise, and while he might not have the biggest shoes to fill for our team per se, he does have the size to fill them. At a towering 7ft tall, and weighing in at 285 glorious pounds, I give you Andrew Bynum. He fills a void that the Sixers desperately needed filling. Not only a big body to clog the paint, but a legitimate scoring presence down low that can not only control, but dominate the game. After years of heartache and frustratingly watching our big men be too weak, too small, or too out of shape, we finally have a big man to root for. I've tried my best with Elton Brand and Chris Webber, but they didn't pan out as expected. While you can try and compare Bynum to Brand and Webber, there's not much in common. For one thing, both of those guys were exceptional power forwards, while Bynum is the 2nd best Center in the NBA. The biggest negative people might point to is Bynum's injury problems. Brand and Webber had their problems with injuries but this situation is different. They were established veterans when they came to Philly, not much upside and you knew what kind of player we were going to get. Brand was 29, Webber 31; Andrew Bynum will turn 25 in late October. He's young and just tapping in to his prime capabilities, and I truly believe that he has finally grown in to his massive body.
        
        Many are wondering how the Sixers got Bynum and not Orlando. Fans and journalists alike need to realize exactly what we gave up. We shipped out 3 first-round picks in Nikola Vucevic (2011), Moe Harkless (2012) and a future pick, as well as the centerpiece from our team, our best player; Andre Iguodala. A 2011-12 All-Star and 2012 Olympic team member, Iguodala is not only a great all-around ball player, but is one of the best perimeter defenders in the world. People have loved to try and compare this Olympic team to the '92 Dream Team, well on his best day Iguodala is the Scottie Pippen of this year's team. Mind you, Pippen is a hall of famer, and if Iguodala had a talent like Michael Jordan on his team, i.e. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Durant; let's just say he would have much more than 1 All-Star nod under his belt. Iguodala stuffs the staff sheet, and is one of the most versatile players in the NBA. I am obviously a fan of Iguodala, and I wish him well in Denver. However, I am extremely happy that we got rid of him. Kind of an oxymoron there right? Let me explain. Obviously I'm happy they received a stud center to roam the paint, but they also rid themselves of Iggy's contract for this season, and actually will save some money under the cap by acquiring Bynum. It's a no brainier for the Sixers to get rid of Iguodala and more to acquire Bynum and Jason Richardson by the way. Philadelphia has a plethora of talent at the wing, and not much at all down low. 2010 2nd overall pick Evan Turner, and the highly talented Thaddeus Young will receive more minutes and are going to be expected to produce, Turner especially. Evan Turner has been frustrating to say the least, however he has shown flashes of brilliance. Now that Iguodala is gone, he has no more excuses. If he starts to falter, newly acquired Jason Richardson, Nick Young, and Dorrell Wright will be more than happy to step up.

        The 76ers only have Bynum for one year as of now, as he an unrestricted free agent after 2012-13. The team as a whole needs to step up to make the New Jersey native Bynum a believer in Philly for the future. The 2013 free agent class is mighty enticing, and the best case scenario is Doug Collins and Philadelphia convince Bynum to stick around for the near and far future and he dominates as the best big man in the Eastern Conference, and helps us get more talent to build around him, Jrue Holiday and company. Worst case scenario is that Bynum gets hurt and/or walks after the season and we have a lot of money to play with. As far as I can tell, as of now our deeply talented but complicated depth chart looks like this:

Starting lineup

 

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Jason Richardson

SF: Evan Turner

PF: Lavoy Allen

C: Andrew Bynum

Bench

PG: Maalik Wayns*/Xavier Silas* (Evan Turner)

SG: Nick Young, Royal Ivey*

SF:  Dorrell Wright, Sam Young*

PF: Thaddeus Young, Arnett Moultrie, Craig Brackins*

C: Spencer Hawes, Kwame Brown 

* Indicate players who our questionable to make the team.

Andrew Bynum and Andre Iguoadala in their new uniforms. *Note. Andrew Bynum will wear #33.