WITH THE 12th pick in the draft, the 76ers take . . .

Thaddeus Young.

Not Al Thornton or Julian Wright or anyone else.

Thaddeus Young.

That would be the now 19-year-old forward who dropped 20 points and six rebounds on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, who is averaging 11.8 points and five rebounds in 13 games this month, shooting 58.9 percent from the floor and 86.7 from the foul line.

That would be Thaddeus Young, who said, "I didn't play a lick of defense in high school or college. I had to focus in on that. My main job was just to score.''

"I think he's being a little modest,'' said Courtney Witte, the Sixers' director of player personnel. "We saw him in some selected events when he was in high school, and you could see the length, the long arms, the athleticism. He was trying to become a better defensive player; he's got a high-energy motor to go with his endless energy.

"Beyond that, his background, his support system, his family system is off the charts. His personality traits are such that we always felt he'd be a very quick learner.''

So much for all the draft night talk that Young - who played one season at Georgia Tech - was a year or 2 away.

"At first, I was told I wasn't going to play some games . . . that didn't sit well with me,'' Young said. "I was like, 'I want to play in every game. I'm going to work as hard as I can to play in every game.' I just kept my focus on the task at hand.''

Once the Sixers' scouting and personnel staff knew Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were out of reach, they zeroeed in on Al Horford and Yi Jianlian. And when they were unable to move up to get either of them, Young was their guy.

"If you could take what's inside him and inject it in a lot of other players, we'd all be better off,'' Witte said.

I think . . .

The MVP race is as fluid as ever, but for the moment my ballot would include, in some order: Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James.

The next tier: Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady, Baron Davis, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Deron Williams.

Stating the obvious . . .

Andre Iguodala is the Sixers' leader, Reggie Evans and Lou Williams have been the primary catalysts and Andre Miller is their MVP. As for all of you (you know who you are) who wanted to move Miller at the trade deadline . . .

Ticketholders alert

The Sixers are raising prices an average of 4.4 percent for season ticketholders next season, their first increase in 4 years.

And then there are the Memphis Grizzlies: Their season has been so disastrous, they're raising no prices and are dropping prices on 4,500 seats in their arena.

"We're not looking for revenue,'' owner Michael Heisley said. "We're looking to get fans in the seats.''

Ticketholders alert II:

If you're a New Jersey Nets season ticketholder and renew early, you get a hand-signed jersey of "the greatest Net of all time'' . . . Julius Erving.

Who never played for the Nets in the NBA.

Postcard from Salt Lake

Old friend Kyle Korver, traded by the Sixers to the Utah Jazz, told reporters that the Sixers were smart to keep Andre Miller at the trade deadline.

"There was a lot of talk about, 'We can get [an expiring] contract' or whatever," Korver said. "Get a contract so you can sign who? What other point guard is out there that's going to make you better than Andre Miller? He's a great point guard. He's so unselfish and just so team-first. I wouldn't understand why you would trade him, unless someone gave you just an unbelievable deal."

Weird stat

The Phoenix Suns, tonight's opponents, have been called for more technical fouls (15) in 18 games with Shaquille O'Neal than in the 53 games without him (14).

Words to live by

* Orlando backup center Adonal Foyle, in Florida Today: "To me, happiness is being fully aware of my environment, understanding it in every way and appreciating the world. It would be a shame to exit this world and not really know what makes it tick.''

* Miami coach Pat Riley, on the general collapse of the Heat, in the South Florida Sun Sentinel: "It is a tragedy when a team has something that dies inside when it is still playing, and that's what happened. Something happened; whatever it was, it died inside, and it stuck the whole year." *

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