Sixers are at a critical juncture

After the Sixers season ended, Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider - at last check, he still runs the hoops team in town, though that could change at any moment - was asked to evaluate his front office. Snider thought about it for a moment, then offered the sort of typically blunt remarks he's delivered for decades.

"I don't think we made any decisions this year," Snider said. "Except for the draft. And Ed [Stefanski] was very responsible in hiring Doug Collins."

OK, but what about Rod Thorn? What kind of impact did the new president have on the organization?

"He hasn't had an impact yet," Snider continued. "We haven't done anything yet."

Snider later added that Thorn is "highly respected" around the league and that his impact will "start to show." He also said that Thorn and Stefanski worked well together in the past and that he expected them to do so again. Still, the message was clear enough: The Thorn/Stefanski Reunion Tour (Don't Call It a Comeback, They've Been Together For a Year) started slowly. That's fine. It takes time to get the band back together, to get everyone playing the right notes at the right time. Harmony isn't easy. But then, neither is running a basketball team.

The Sixers are at a critical juncture in the organization's history. The team is allegedly up for sale. The NBA draft is Thursday night. And there have been countless reports and rumors about potential trades involving Andre Iguodala - though the longer he remains a Sixer, the more you start to wonder whether he'll ever get that plane ticket out of town. What happens (or doesn't happen) between now and whenever the next season begins might very well determine the future of the franchise for many years to come. Improve and move closer to Miami. Fall back and flounder with Milwaukee for who knows how long. You could see it going either way for the Sixers.

The period allotted for Thorn and Stefanski to catch up and reminisce about their greatest hits in New Jersey is over. The duo can't do anything about who owns the team and signs their paychecks, but the basketball issues at hand are very much theirs for the moment, and it's long past time for them to make some tough calls. The Sixers may have progressed under Doug Collins, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who sees this squad as a legitimate championship contender. Changes must be made.

Start with Iguodala. Only in some bizarre, broken basketball universe could he be the face of the franchise. In a star-dependent league, having him fill that role isn't great for title aspirations or marketing purposes.

The ho-hum Sixers swingman, who is owed about $44 million over the next three seasons, has been mentioned in possible deals that might net Golden State's Monta Ellis or the Clippers' Chris Kaman in return. Those two players, Ellis and Kaman, have different skill sets. But in one very important way they are the same: Neither is Iguodala.

New faces. New blood. New (or at least some) hope. That has to be the focus now. Which brings the front office to its next critical call. The 16th pick in the draft is no gem - the last three taken by the Sixers in that particular slot were Marreese Speights, Jiri Welsch, and something called Chris Welp - but that doesn't mean the selection is worthless, either.

The name most often mentioned is local product turned Kansas forward Markieff Morris. He's tall (6-10) if not all that thick (245 pounds), but he's probably the safe pick if he's still around when the Sixers are on the clock. The Inquirer's Marc Narducci recently conducted his mock draft, and he has Morehead State power forward Kenneth Faried coming to Philadelphia. Faried is listed at 6-7 - or 6-6 without shoes. The Sixers, as you know, love seemingly interchangeable parts that stand between 6-6 and 6-9. (They currently have seven players on the roster in that range.) Faried would fit right in with all those guys. If the Sixers take him, maybe the organization could get a discount rate on one-size-fits-all uniforms. Or, hey, there's always the hand-me-down option. Either would save money.

You'd like to see the Sixers take a genuine big man, but that hasn't always worked out for the team. Whether drafting or acquiring post players via trade, it's been ugly for the Sixers in the paint. Shawn Bradley. Matt Geiger. Eric Montross. Todd MacCulloch. Nazr Mohammed. Charles Shackleford. The list goes on.

The Other Shack - who famously called himself "amphibious" because he could use his left or right hand - was once billed by the Sixers front office as "the last piece of the puzzle." And maybe he was, but when the puzzle was completed it didn't look anything like the picture on the box.

Now Thorn and Stefanski must work on a different puzzle - one that remains incomplete and difficult to solve. There's no guarantee they'll figure it out. The only absolute is that they must move the pieces around.