Philadelphia has the 32nd pick.  Their first round pick was shipped to the beloved Boston Celtics as part of the Jerome Moiso trade.  In the real draft, Philadelphia will have the 50th pick.  Their GM is David Vaugh who selects:

Mario Austin, PF, 6'8" Mississippi State

Philadelphia 76ers Year-In-Review: 2002-2003

Season Review:

The season started full of anticipation. Allen Iverson and Larry Brown had patched up their differences concerning practice habits and were ready to rock-n-roll. It was time to get back to where they were, challenging for the Eastern Conference Title. They had the Nets in their sights. In fact they gave the plodding Dikembe Motumbo to the Nets so they could get Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCullough. They needed a low post scoring threat, and teaming Iverson with the sniper-like shooting of Van Horn, the Nets were surely beatable. Then in training camp, Iverson broke a finger. It should have been a sign.

The season kicked off with a stunning loss to the Magic. That must've pushed some buttons on this team, because in the next 17 games, the 76ers only lost 3 more times. They finished November 14-4 and on top of the Atlantic Division. Iverson was a scoring machine and was distributing the ball well too. He was determined to become the MVP again and put this team on his back and take them to the Promised Land. Then the injuries started to strike. A 5-game losing streak followed as the team's defense started to fail. They finished the calendar year at 19-12. Along they way the Sixers pulled off a trade. Realizing that Van Horn wasn't tough enough inside, they brought in Kenny Thomas for a conditional draft pick. Would Thomas shore up the team's shoddy rebounding?

Unfortunately the team limped through January finishing just 3 games over .500 at 25-22 and laying in the middle of the pack of the playoff picture. Iverson held a player's only meeting to rally the troops for a big time playoff push. The team also was ready for a shot in the arm and Derrick Coleman's return from the injured list was billed as that savior. Those things seemed to work because the Sixers reeled of a great February going 9-2 for the month. However, disaster struck. MacCullough was diagnosed with a rare nervous disorder and was shelved for the year, with even some rumors saying he may done, forever. This seemed to rally the troops as they went 10-4 during March. At 44-29 the Sixers were right in the thick of things. They needed a very strong finish. It didn't happen. With Eric Snow beat up, the weight of carrying the team too heavy for Iverson alone, they finished 4-5, dropping to the 4th spot in the playoff seeding. Set to play the upstart Hornets, Iverson tried to rally the team again.

The playoffs seemed to mirror the regular season. Iverson scoring pretty much at will and the rest of the team trying to follow his lead. The Answer dropped a 55 spot in the 1st game and averaged 35 points for the series. The Sixers survived a scare and edged the Hornets in 6. On to the next round against the "Lunch Pail Gang", from Detroit. It would prove to be a great series with close finishes throughout. The bad thing was, the Sixers were on the short end of the stick 4 times as opposed to winning twice. What was next?

What was bad, went to worse. Larry Brown stepped down as coach. He then proceeded to flee to the team that just knocked him and the team out of the playoffs, the Pistons. If you can't beat them, join 'em. So who should replace Brown? Hey, why not go after former 76er great Mo Cheeks? Not a chance, the Blazers didn't even let Cheeks talk to the 76ers. Now what? Jeff Van Gundy? Not interested. So they decided to look down the bench and promote Randy Ayers. Ayers is a good coach, most remembered fro his days at Ohio St. He's been with the team fro a while so the players should trust him.

Final record : 48-34

2002-2003 Statistics:

PLAYER AVERAGES
							REBOUNDS
Player	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	TOT	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
Allen Iverson	82	82	42.5	.414	.277	.774	.80	3.40	4.20	5.5	2.74	.16	3.49	1.80	27.6
Keith Van Horn	74	73	31.6	.482	.369	.804	2.10	4.90	7.10	1.3	.85	.41	2.03	3.40	15.9
Eric Snow	82	82	37.9	.452	.219	.858	.90	2.80	3.70	6.6	1.62	.13	2.37	2.90	12.9
Kenny Thomas	46	28	30.3	.482	.000	.750	3.00	5.50	8.50	1.6	1.00	.48	1.65	2.60	10.2
Derrick Coleman	64	35	27.2	.448	.328	.784	2.40	4.70	7.00	1.4	.83	1.08	1.50	2.70	9.4
Aaron McKie	80	40	29.7	.429	.330	.836	.80	3.60	4.40	3.5	1.64	.11	1.36	2.20	9.0
Todd MacCulloch	42	35	19.3	.517	.000	.671	1.60	3.10	4.70	.5	.45	.76	.83	2.50	7.1
Greg Buckner	75	5	20.2	.465	.273	.802	1.00	1.90	2.90	1.3	.96	.21	.83	2.70	6.0
Brian Skinner	77	9	17.9	.550	.000	.602	1.80	3.00	4.80	.2	.61	.69	.81	2.30	6.0
Tyrone Hill	24	18	20.7	.404	.000	.600	2.30	2.80	5.20	.4	.63	.29	.67	2.80	4.5
Monty Williams	21	2	13.1	.425	.000	.750	.60	1.60	2.10	1.2	.57	.24	.81	1.60	4.4
John Salmons	64	1	7.9	.414	.323	.743	.30	.70	.90	.7	.27	.09	.45	.80	2.1
Efthimios Rentzias	35	0	4.1	.339	.500	.889	.30	.50	.70	.2	.17	.06	.11	.60	1.5
Kenny Satterfield	17	0	4.8	.222	.000	.500	.20	.20	.50	.9	.12	.00	.41	.40	.5
Team Averages	82	0	242.1	.448	.311	.775	12.7	29.5	42.2	21.6	10.3	3.5	14.8	22.0	96.8
Opponents	82	0	242.1	.452	.354	.760	11.1	29.3	40.3	22.1	7.8	6.4	17.1	23.0	94.5

							REBOUNDS
Player	G	GS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Allen Iverson	82	82	3,485	804-1,940	84-303	570-736	68	276	344	454	225	13	286	149	2,262
Keith Van Horn	74	73	2,337	459-952	65-176	193-240	159	365	524	93	63	30	150	251	1,176
Eric Snow	82	82	3,108	361-799	7-32	325-379	71	230	301	544	133	11	194	235	1,054
Aaron McKie	80	40	2,374	286-666	37-112	112-134	61	289	350	278	131	9	109	177	721
Derrick Coleman	64	35	1,742	223-498	22-67	134-171	151	299	450	87	53	69	96	171	602
Kenny Thomas	46	28	1,392	178-369	0-0	114-152	140	252	392	73	46	22	76	120	470
Brian Skinner	77	9	1,381	182-331	0-0	97-161	136	230	366	19	47	53	62	176	461
Greg Buckner	75	5	1,514	185-398	15-55	65-81	72	144	216	96	72	16	62	203	450
Todd MacCulloch	42	35	812	123-238	0-0	53-79	66	130	196	20	19	32	35	107	299
John Salmons	64	1	504	48-116	10-31	26-35	16	43	59	47	17	6	29	53	132
Tyrone Hill	24	18	496	44-109	0-0	21-35	56	68	124	9	15	7	16	68	109
Monty Williams	21	2	276	34-80	0-2	24-32	12	33	45	26	12	5	17	33	92
Efthimios Rentzias	35	0	144	20-59	4-8	8-9	10	16	26	7	6	2	4	21	52
Kenny Satterfield	17	0	82	4-18	0-0	1-2	4	4	8	15	2	0	7	6	9
Team Totals	82	0	19,855	2,975-6,640	245-787	1,746-2,253	1,042	2,415	3,457	1,771	844	284	1,212	1,804	7,941
Opponents	82	0	--	2876-6363	453-1278	1547-2035	908	2400	3308	1809	639	521	1405	1885	7752

Player 2002-03 salary Total contract Signed through 
Allen Iverson $12,375,000 6-yr; 80.0M 2003-04 (p) 
Keith Van Horn $12,072,500 6-yr; 73.0M 2004-05 (p) 
Derrick Coleman $9,380,000 5-yr; 40.0M 2002-03 
Todd MacCulloch $4,991,800 6-yr; 28.0M 2005-06 
Aaron McKie $4,500,000 7-yr; 38.5M 2005-06 (p) 
Eric Snow $4,125,000 7-yr; 29.0M 2003-04 (p) 
Greg Buckner $2,400,000 6-yr; 18.0M 2006-07 (p) 
Kenny Thomas $1,557,684 4-yr; 4.21M 2002-03 (t) 
Tyrone Hill $1,030,000 1-yr; 1.03M 2002-03 
Efthimios Rentzias $903,360 4-yr; 4.66M 2004-05 (t) 
Monty Williams $887,435 2-yr; 1.89M 2003-04 
Samuel Dalembert $691,100 4-yr; 4.09M 2003-04 (t) 
John Salmons $670,800 4-yr; 4.25M 2004-05 (t) 
Brian Skinner $637,435 1-yr; 637,435 2002-03 
Sam Clancy $349,458 2-yr; 861,893 2003-04 
OTHERS, $8,768,000 
Total $65,339,572

Player Analysis:

Derrick Coleman (FREE AGENT): Gave the team a jolt down the stretch. A free agent, with many potential suitors. Larry Brown and Detroit included. Solid low post threat. 

Sam Dalembert : Coming off surgery. This project is a good shot blocker but has no offensive game. Tyrone Hill : Solid interior defender and tough guy. May not be back. Hill's a Larry Brown type of guy, and may follow him to Detroit. 

Allen Iverson : What can you say? 1 of the most explosive scorer's in the league. Has said he's going to work out this offseason. He's going to need the help. 

Todd MacCulloch : Nervous Disorder clouds future. Effective low post scorer. Very soft touch around the rim. So-so rebounder. Can he come back? 

Aaron McKie : Great defender. Can run the point in spurts, can play the 3 or 2. Has trouble guarding taller players. Great role player. 

Efthimios Rentzias : International man of mystery. Showed glimpses of potential. May just be a big body. Good touch and decent passer. Drifts too much. 

John Salmons : The future at point? Had moments of brilliance but more moments of bad play. Could be a very effective defender. 

Brian Skinner (FREE AGENT): Role player. Banger and rebounder. That's about it. Eric Snow : Iverson's sidekick. In demand with some other clubs around the league. Steady point man, who's worked hard on his game. Has become a respectable shooter. 

Kenny Thomas (FREE AGENT): Very good addition. Someone finally told him how effective he could be if he concentrated on rebounding. Had a number of 20 rebound games. Stock may have risen 2 much. 

Keith Van Horn : Soft, soft, soft. Will never live up to his hype coming out of college. Solid shooter but is no marksman. Weak on defense and the boards. Will surprise some but needs to overcome lack of confidence and step up. Monty Williams: Good role player. Plays hard defense. Rebounds well. Good player in the locker room.

Off Season Plan:

Without a first round pick the Sixers will have to decide what to do about their frontcourt. Derrick Coleman is going on 36, so they will have to decide if they want to bring him back next season. Kenny Thomas has proven to be a nice role player and will take a commitment from the team to keep him. The backcourt is in good shape but the team needs help defensively in the frontcourt. The team would love to bring Theo Ratliff back or a Theo Ratliff type of shotblocking/rebounder. Maybe trading Motumbo wasn't a great idea? Snow has been linked to number of teams in search of a bigger point. Can John Salmons handle the job full time? Doubtful. The team isn't in great Salary Cap shape. They are about to pay the luxury tax as well. They'll have to use the mid-level exception to add players. There's not a lot of players with return value for trades other than Snow. So exchanging players isn't real likely but Iverson needs some scoring help bad.

Draft Plan:

Selection:

Mario Austin-PF-Mississippi St. (6-9/265)

Why: I looked at other prospects but the bottom line is that Austin is ready right now... He's a Big forward and is a load on offense, and a solid rebounder ... 12-foot range on his jumper ... Works mostly off the left low block ... Secures terrific initial positioning in the early offense ... Can drive in either direction ... Will show the pump fake ... Good hands, though he needs to gather himself after securing a pass, he'll get an attempt up eventually ... Will go glass on his hooks or jumpers ... Likes to post in the middle of the lane ... Can put the ball on the floor, though he'll look out of control ... Good screener, he likes throwing his weight around even if it means picking up unnecessary fouls ... Doesn't leave his feet for rebounds ... Will get lost defending a screen and roll, still has roaming instincts ... Moves his feet on defense in the post ... Conditioning may still be an issue, he won't cross over the half court line on offense every time out...Austin is a solid NBA prospect... He is likely to be selected in the late first round/early second round simply because of concerns regarding his true height... He did actually measure in at 6-9 at Chicago so that may help... There may be better athletes out there but there aren't many tougher...Solid pick I think...May not blow people's socks off but he'll get the job done.

Other Options: 

Jerome Beasley-PF-N.Dakota St. / Travis Outlaw-SF-Starkville (Miss.) H.S. / Chris Marcus-C-W. Kentucky / James Lang-C/PF-Birmingham (Alab.) H.S.

My guess on what will happen: Being that the 76ers pick a lot lower than this in the actual draft, they could very well go after a Chris Marcus. He was a very solid prospect until the foot problems. They should go big. That late in the 2nd round, they won't get a great player but hopefully someone that could make the roster. Marcus could do that. They need to re-sign Coleman to restore their inside game but he may want to go to Detroit. They need a good scorer to compliment Iverson. Maybe Van Horn will be that guy, or maybe he will be that same underachiever he's been to date. Keeping Eric Snow will be key as well. There is a lot to like about this club. They play hard and are a good cohesive unit. Philadelphia should be proud of these 76ers. They could very well get back to the Big Dance this next year, as the East is always up for grabs.