There was a theory circulating that, if the 76ers were going to carry a 14th man, Dionte Christmas might fit the bill.

The theory suggested that a 14th guy should have a special skill, and Chrstmas is a good shooter, something the Sixers have lacked in recent seasons.

Nice theory. Didn't work. The Sixers waived Christmas, the undrafted rookie from Temple, and forward Brandon Bowman, leaving them with 13 players. Teams can carry as many as 15 players, with 12 eligible to play in any given game. And the Sixers had already improved their shooting by trading for Jason Kapono and, to some degree, by trading for Rodney Carney.

But if Chrstmas was crushed by the news, he hasn't shown that to Andre Buck, his agent.

''I told his father that Dionte's the best I've ever seen at handling a situation like this, in terms of the process,'' Buck said. "It's tough, because it's not a friendly process; there are always guys out there that teams are looking at. And there are guys who were in the NBA last season that are looking around.

''We're not sure yet about what we're going to do. The 'D' League is an option, and if the right offer were to come from Europe, that would be an option, too. We plan to be patient, to take a few days.

''All the feedback I've gotten says Dionte is more than good enough, but more teams are carrying fewer players, and teams don't always want to carry an (extra) rookie who might not contribute right away. All of those factors come in to play.

''But as I said, he's really handling this well. In that respect, he makes my job easy.''

In case you're looking for something to watch between the end of the Eagles-Oakland Raiders game (no disrespect to the Eagles' post-game show on Comcast SportsNet) and the start of Game 3 between the Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers . . .

There's always the 76ers. Their preseason game against the Phoenix Suns at 7 from Monterey, Mexico is being broadcast by NBA-TV, albeit in Spanish.

The Sixers are 4-1 in the preseason after Friday night's 115-113 loss to the Suns in Phoenix. Tonight's game will feature Spanish-speaking announcers and graphis in Spanish, part of an NBA marketing initiative to personalize the game for Hispanic fans.

The Sixers, who won their first four preseason games for just the fifth time since 1963, came from 18 points down in the fourth quarter Friday to challenge the Suns. They were undone, in part, by Suns guard Dan Dickau going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final five minutes.

The good news was, Marreese Speights scored 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting, swept 12 rebounds and blocked two shots, and rookie guard Jrue Holiday had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 30 minutes before fouling out. The bad news was, Elton Brand (1-for-7), Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala combined to shoot 1-for-15.

The 76ers have won their first four preseason games for the fifth time since 1963. As they prepare for a pair of weekend games against the Phoenix Suns, is that enough for you to begin to hope and dream about the coming season? Is it even enough to get a feel for what the season might be like?

Don't go off the deep end yet with Eddie Jordan and his Princeton offense, but here's what history says about the Sixers winning at least their first four preseason games--

1967-68: They swept their first six in a 7-2 preseason. Powered by Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, they went 62-20.

1968-69: They took their first five in a 12-game preaseason (7-5), then went 55-27 behind Cunningham, Greer and Chet Walker.

1975-76: They won their first four in the preseason, finishing 6-2. With George McGinnis, Doug Collins, Fred Carter and Steve Mix (not to mention young Lloyd Free and Joe Bryant), they were 46-36.

1978-79: They won their first four in a 7-1 preseason. Led by Julius Erving, Collins, Darryl Dawkins, Henry Bibby and Maurice Cheeks, they went 47-35.

What, if anything, does that mean in reference to this season?

Not a clue.

Just offering a dollop of Sixerville in the midst of the Phillies' run.

The Sixers have waived guard Sean Singletary and forward/center Stromile Swift, trimming the roster to 15.

Singletary, the Penn Charter product. appeared in one game for a total of 10 minutes this preseason for the Sixers.

Swift was seemingly destined to be cut when he was injured in virtually his first workout with the team. He missed the Sixers first three preseason games with a strained left hamstring.

The Sixers have signed free-agent forward Rashad Jones-Jennings, bringing the training camp roster to 18 players.

Jones-Jennings (6-8, 230) went undrafted out of Arkansas-Little Rock in 2007 after leading the nation in rebounding.

He competed for the Sixers in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2007.

Last season, Jones-Jennings played for FC Bayern München ,of the German League, averaging 8.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

*

The Sixers will return to the Wachovia Spectrum for a free open practice session on Saturday, Oct. 10, Comcast-Spectacor announced this morning.

The session is scheduled for 11 a.m. No tickets are required and the doors open at 10 a.m.

“With October being the final month of the Spectrum and the excitement the team generated last season with their special Return to the Spectrum game, we felt it was important for the fans to be able to celebrate the many wonderful memories of the Spectrum with the Sixers one more time,” Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luukko said in a statement.

The open practice features warmup drills, shooting practice, and an intersquad scrimmage. Assistant coach Mike O’Koren will wear a microphone and describe the action to the fans as it’s happening and forward Andre Iguodola will welcome the fans with a special pre-practice opening announcement.

The practice coincides with individual game tickets going on sale, beginning at 10 a.m. that day

The Sixers open the 2009-10 home portion of their schedule on Friday, October 30, when they host the Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m.

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Stromile Swift, one of four to sign a free agent contract recently, suffered a strain to his left hamstring late in the morning practice and was not expected to participate in the night session.

He is listed as day-to-day.

Swift, a former first-round draft pick, played in a total of 19 games last season for New Jersey and Phoenix.

Other notes:

* Jason Smith is wearing a sleeve on his surgically repaired left knee, but moved well around the court. Smith missed all of last season.

* Coach Eddie Jordan yelled and stopped the practice twice when reporters were in, the first for two big men not running the court and crisscrossing with each other down low to start the offense and the other time was because an outlet to Andre Iguodala didn’t lead him far enough. “We want you out in the open floor, one-on-one,” he shouted.

* Due to his left Achilles injury suffered two seasons ago, Brand says his left calf is a half inch smaller than his right one. “I do extra lifting with it to try to balance them out. It was an inch-and-a-half smaller last year”

* Sean Singletary did a real nice job of playing on the ball defense.

* Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a visitor to the morning workout, as was Phil Martelli, who made the short stroll from his beautiful new office at the Ramsey Center to the practice courts.

The Sixers signed former No. 2 overall pick Stromile Swift to their roster in advance of tomorrow's start to training camp.

 The 6-10 Swift, the second overall pick by Vancouver in 2000, appeared in a total of 19 games last season for New Jersey and Phoenix. He played six games with the Nets last season before being waived in early March. Three days later, he signed with the Sun and remained on their roster for the rest of the season.

In 547 career games with 97 starts, he has averaged 8.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.25 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 69.9 percent from the line. He played in 21 games for the Nets in the 2007-08 season.

The Sixers also announced the signings of Temple product Dionte Christmas, Penn Charter grad Sean Singletary and Brandon Bowman, a rookie from Georgetown.

The team has 17 players in camp at Saint Joseph's University.

When Elton Brand signed with the Sixers last offseason, he was coming off a season in which he played only eight games due to a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

With the big contract (close to $80 million) came enormous expectations from Sixers’ fans. But Brand was far from himself during his brief stint last season when he appeared in only 28 games after dislocating his right shoulder in mid-December and subsequently undergoing surgery close to two months later.

He conceded today that his left leg was far from 100 percent.

“When I started last season, it wasn’t 100 (percent), it wasn’t there explosion-wise," Brand said during an event to unveil the Sixers' new uniforms. "But now I have the one-leg strength back, I have the two legs to bounce back. I’ve been training here the last two weeks so it feels good.”

Brand and the Sixers are only looking forward with training camp set to begin next week.

“I’m excited to be healthy, I’m excited to add to the team,” Brand admitted. “Two first round (playoff) losses the last two years for a young team is OK, but I was brought in here to go farther than that and that’s my goal and that’s what I’ve been thinking about the entire offseason."
 

Read more in tomorrow's Daily News

Two sources have confirmed that Sean Singletary, a star guard from Virginia who attended Penn Charter, Haverford School and Perkiomen School, will be in training camp with the 76ers.

The information first surfaced on CavalierDaily.com. The website said Singletary has ''a conditional contract'' with the team.

The 6-foot Singletary, 24, appeared in 13 games last season with the Phoenix Suns and 24 games with the Charlotte Bobcats. He was a second-round draft choice of the Sacramento Kings in 2008.

He joins Bryant Stith and Ralph Sampson as the only Cavaliers to be named All-Atlantic Coast Conference three times; his No. 44 jersey was retired in a ceremony Feb. 15.

The Sixers will open training camp Sept. 29 at Saint Joseph's University.