By standing pat, Sixers choosing process over quick fix

The NBA trading deadline will pass Thursday afternoon and, apparently, so will the 76ers.

Elsewhere around the league, teams are scurrying to improve themselves, or to clear future cap room, or merely to make it look as if the front office is awake and open for business.

The New Jersey Nets, smarting from their unsuccessful pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, gave up players, draft picks, and cash to snare point guard Deron Williams from Utah on Wednesday, and probably would have thrown in some sneakers and turnpike passes if pressed.

Even the Washington Wizards, the Sixers' cellar-dwelling opponents Wednesday night, got into the action. During the first half, guard Kirk Hinrich and center Hilton Armstrong were on the bench in street clothes, awaiting parole. By the second half, they were gone, sent to Atlanta in a deal that brings the Wizards three players, including Mike Bibby, and a first-round pick.

The Wizards who didn't escape to the airport and were left behind seemed to quit in the second half, but it's difficult to tell the difference between an unmotivated Wizards team and their usual effort. Even by their standards, however, getting outscored by 31 points in the first 19 minutes of a half is pretty dismal. But, hey, they're making trades.

As for the Sixers, barring something unexpected or a minor move like the scraping of the Jason Kapono barnacle from the roster, the slogan for the rest of the season is: "What you see is what you get."

"We have a good team right now, and that has definitely affected our thinking," team president Rod Thorn said.

Well, all right. Including Wednesday's 117-94 win over the saddened Wizards, the Sixers have climbed within one game of .500, playing to a 25-16 record over the last three months. If you choose to look at it this way, and the Sixers no doubt would do so, that's a half-season of basketball. Double the record and this is a 50-win team.

Regrettably, the NBA seems intent on counting the results during the first month of the season - when the Sixers were 3-13 - and, also regrettably, this ain't a 50-win team, anyway.

Still, the progress has been palpable under Doug Collins, and management can be forgiven for letting the guys play on and sticking with the slow-growth method. It isn't as if Carmelo went to the Knicks only because the Sixers weren't interested, and it isn't as if a shuffling-of-deck-chairs transaction like the one made by Washington is all that appealing.

Collins said he didn't detect any "angst" among the Sixers about the impending deadline. That's understandable, because Collins has instilled a positive atmosphere this season and the players seem to enjoy the process. On the other hand, getting traded away wouldn't be a reason to quit the game, either.

Chuck Daly always said you can't fool kids, dogs, and NBA players, so these guys know exactly where they are, and they know exactly how uncertain the Sixers' path to becoming a true contender is. It will take time and it will take a superstar. Most of the players have the time, but they also recognize that the superstar - if he arrives - will eat minutes, points, and money from the rest of their plates.

Like the rest of us, they wait and wonder if Thorn and Collins have a second act that will be as intriguing as the first. Getting from 30 wins to 40 wins is the easy part in the NBA. Getting to 50 and beyond is where the air and the margin for error get thin.

"A lot of guys think the grass is always greener," Collins said of the trade deadline. "A lot of guys would like to go to a place where they think they would play more, but from our standpoint, the fact that it's been quiet has been very good."

The players are taking it that way. Elton Brand said that keeping the team together is the "ultimate compliment."

"They're giving us a chance at it," Brand said. "We've played very well lately."

"They realize what we have here," Thaddeus Young said. "We can do big things. We're missing a couple of pieces, but when we get those pieces we can become a playoff team that will go far in the playoffs."

The trick is getting the pieces, of course, and the ones they need don't fall from trees very often. They will have to get lucky or they will have to make some very difficult decisions about getting rid of some of their more attractive players.

For now, the group is staying together. Unsaid is that if this team ever gets where it wants to go, that togetherness will eventually have to be shattered.