And here is where Thaddeus Young makes it hard not to like him, for he says that if it had been up to him, he would have taken Al Thornton, too.

"You're not stupid at all," Young said, laughing. "At that time, he was probably the better pick. 'Cause he did more in college than I did. And he was a four-year, a five-year guy. He was a redshirt, I think. He had much more college experience. He had played at high intensity all four years he played at Florida State. He was a great player. I only had one year of college."

You like honesty in a young man, and in a 19-year-old who likely has had people kissing his posterior since the first time he broke someone down off the dribble, it's refreshing.

It's not the first time that Young has been a surprise. His rookie season has laid waste to the conventional wisdom that he, while wildly athletic, was too immature to make an impact this season, too one-dimensional for a club that was rebuilding - like the Sixers, for example.

But Young has defied all that talk, exhibiting his length and speed again last night with 20 points in 26 minutes off the bench against the Bulls, who should be ashamed of themselves. A year after making the Eastern Conference semifinals, Chicago is a joke of a team, not playing defense, not executing, not caring until it is down 20.

Looking a lot like we thought the Sixers would look this season.

But Philly is headed for the playoffs, because its young players, like Young, have come on like gangbusters. The former Georgia Tech star has backed up his self-assurance - "He is supremely confident," Ed Stefanski says - on the court, playing fast and, frequently, above the rim.

When teammates like Lou Williams tried to warn him he would sit for long stretches, Young didn't want to hear it.

"He was like, 'You've just got to wait your turn,' " Young said. "And I was just like, 'Nah, I don't like waiting. I'm impatient.' "

He says this with cheer, not hubris. And ever since December, when Maurice Cheeks lengthened the rotation, Young has been right. He may be an undersize power forward ("It don't look like I'm growing anymore," the 6-foot-8, 220-pounder says), but there aren't many fours in the league who can keep up with him.

What Thaddeus Young becomes is extremely important. If he really can play power forward, the 76ers may not have to dip into those precious millions they'll have this summer (C-Webb, we hardly knew ye, but thanks!) to take a chance on a player like Josh Smith, Atlanta's restricted free agent - or, maybe, a recovering Elton Brand. If Young is the real thing, the Sixers would be small up front, but goodness, would they be fast.

There's just one problem.

Young insists his best position is small forward.

And Andre Iguodala is the current small forward.

And there aren't enough minutes or dollars there for both.

"Right now, I'm playing the majority at the four spot, and I don't see myself playing there," Young said. "I'm willing to play whatever the team wants me to play, but I don't see myself in the future as that being my primary position. That'll be my off position. Right now, I see myself as a small forward."

Cheeks agrees with him, and both also agree that until Young improves his ballhandling and shooting, he's going to play power forward for now.

"He's going to be able to play wherever you put him out on the floor," Cheeks said. "He finds a way to find the ball. He's always around the rim. He defends threes and fours, and obviously fours can't run with him. They can't guard him. But I think his best position is three [small forward]."

It is a ridiculously good problem for the Sixers to have - a glut of talent up front, and a point guard in Andre Miller who dishes out 18 assists, like he did last night, and makes it look easy. And the Sixers have little doubt it will work itself out in time.

You're allowed to be a Pollyanna when you're hurtling toward the playoffs, on the innocent climb, playing free and easy, not a care in the world, able to laugh easily with morons and not at them.

at 215-854-5516 or daldridge@phillynews.com.