Arnett Moultrie's ankle still mending

Remember that high ankle sprain that Sixers rookie Arnett Moultrie suffered while working out for NBA teams prior to the draft? The one that had the 6-11 Moultrie hobbling around when he was introduced to the city a few months back?

Turns out that the healing process has actually been a little bit slower than expected this summer. Moultrie came out of his walking boot in July, nearly two months ago, but he hasn't been able to play five-on-five all summer long.

Moultrie also missed games at the Orlando summer league for rookies and free agents. However, the Sixers are not overly concerned about this. I spoke with president Rod Thorn about this briefly on Thursday and he said that he expects Moultrie to get up to speed during training camp, which begins Oct. 2.

"We'll have some concerns about his conditioning, the usual things," Thorn said, "but I think he's going to be fine."

Thorn said Moultrie, who played mostly at 235 pounds last season at Mississippi State University, is "a little heavier" than the Sixers would like. He also said that Moultrie is playing two-on-two and doing some conditioning, so it's not as though Moultrie isn't doing something.

Speaking of Thorn, he didn't say much about the search for his replacement. He did, however, acknowledge that vice president of basketball operations Tony DiLeo is indeed a candidate for the job. When it comes to personnel moves, Thorn always keeps everything close to the hip.  Out of town and reached via phone, Thorn, who had a pretty damn good summer doing his job, indicated that there are no new candidates vying for the job.

The list of candidates that have already interviewed for the job includes  Boston assistant general manager Mike Zarren – he has since withdrawn his candidacy – ESPN analyst and ex-Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager Tom Penn, and former New Orleans general manager Jeff Bower.