Two of our young guys made the tough omissions:

Darren Collison, D.J. Augustin, Jrue Holiday: Love the price for all three, but really, it's not life-altering to get 14-15 points, 5-6 assists and 35-36 percent shooting from a point guard. There's never been a deeper crew of point guards -- we go something like 20 strong, and that's not even counting the Ridnour/Blake/Udrih types. Remember the days when there were so few decent point guards that Eric Snow and Howard Eisley signed $40 million deals? No more. Long gone.

Evan Turner: Instead of mentioning Mount Bustmore (Kwame Brown, Darko Milicic, Hasheem Thabeet and Adam Morrison) every time we wonder if a high lottery pick might be a draft bust, I thought it would be easier to rename those four guys Kwarko Beetison, who absolutely sounds like someone Chris Wallace would have drafted. Anyway, Turner's Kwarko potential has dwindled to zero: He's contributing to an overachieving playoff team, he's had a few "I AM NOT UNAFRAID OF THIS MOMENT!" games, and he's the only draft pick since 2007 capable of submitting one of those wacky, Rondo-esque 12-17-15 box-score lines someday. Go on eBay, steal some of his rookie cards and thank me later.

He raked Elton Brand's contract as the 25th worst in the NBA(I think it was the 2nd worst in his column last year)

For me the lack of Andre Iguodala in this column is a huge over site... but that could just be my homerism.

Defensive Ends: Justin Smith (San Francisco) and Trent Cole (Philadelphia)

Cole beats out Charles Johnson for the first-team spot, despite Johnson besting him in stops and QB disruptions — in our opinion Cole plays the run too well to ignore.

Safeties: Michael Huff (Oakland) and Quintin Mikell (Philadelphia)

Mikell’s selection was never in doubt, because unlike a lot of other guys who live purely off highlights his game is built on much surer foundations. He only had one poor rating all year, and it wasn’t even that poor. Polamalu was up there with him, but had a rough stretch at midseason and missed time at the end.

via Bill Simmons twitter

we also get charlotte's #1 + $3m from the nets.

Sixers get rid of their two albatross contracts while facilitating a trade between Nets and Nuggets for Melo. This would send us into straight lottery tank mode, but it might be just what the franchise needs.

Via Kate Fagan:

There's been a lot of talk about including Iguodala in a trade, but as of right now, the Sixers are not trying to trade Iguodala. There will need to be a change in upper management's thinking before Iguodala gets peddled because right now he has been repeatedly assured that the team is not trying to trade him.

Looks like Samuel didn't like some criticism he faced from Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Good stuff from The Onion.

This is a good read for any NBA fan.

Asked where he'd like to play, Vick made a choice.

"If I could play for any team in the league, it would probably be two teams, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be the Carolina Panthers," Vick said, via Charles Chandler of the Charlotte Observer.

(Vick never identifies the other team.)

Another Westbrook Bomb.

"It wouldn't shock me at all if he got traded or released," Westbrook told The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "I know that he is very unappreciated in Philadelphia. . . . He's definitely unappreciated for the things that he does and the things that he brings to Philadelphia."

As part of his Thursday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, soon-to-be-former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook (he'll be officially cut next Friday) was asked whether quarterback Mike Vick will be on a different team in 2010.

"Definitely," Westbrook said.

When Johan was asked to name best pitcher in NL East, he replied, "Santana."

Can't really expect the guy to say anything different. A little bulletin board material for Roy. Personally, I can't wait to see these two pitch against each other.

Howard Eskin reported Sunday night on NBC Philadelphia's Sports Final and WIP radio that running back Brian Westbrook may have to retire.

According to Eskin it is his left knee that is the real problem after multiple surgeries. Eskin says there's "almost no chance" Westbrook will play for the Eagles again.

Roy Halladay has taken out a full-page newspaper advertisement in Toronto thanking the city and the team's fans.

Said the right-hander: "Toronto will forever have a special place in my heart. The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude."

Looks like we acquired a real class act in this trade

The NFL has fined Demps $12,500 for his two personal fouls, a roughing the passer penalty for a high hit on Falcons quarterback Chris Redman and a late hit on Falcons receiver Roddy White.

Hopefully he can get away from these stupid penalties they can really hurt the team and his wallet.

Just a rumor but I really liked this line in the article.

We're assuming that Runyan's platform will focus on the right to bear arms. Really hairy arms.

Looks like consecutive weeks where we are facing an organization that is battling issues within