After discussing the Mavericks NBA Finals upset of the Heat at length, there’s one thing all of us here at the Philadunkia offices can agree on — as a team, the 76ers are closer to being the Dallas Mavericks then they are to bing the Miami Heat.  When you first think about that statement, it’s great news, considering the Mavs just won the NBA title.

However, the key words in the above paragraph are “closer to being”.  Make no mistake about it, the Sixers are NOT the Dallas Mavericks and they have a long way to go before they can compete for an NBA title like the Mavs did this past season.  Still there are enough similarities between the two franchises that  there are a few ideas that helped Dallas grab the championship hardware which if applied properly here in Philadelphia could push the Sixers to the next level.

The Philadunkia staff took notes during the Mavs destruction of the Heat and from those notes we complied a list of 5 Things the 76ers Can Learn from the 2010-11 Mavericks.      

Check out the list after the jump.

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At Comcast SportsNet, Dei Lynam produced a very strong video series titled “Almost Answered” which looks back at the 76ers 2001 NBA Finals team.

Warriors GM Larry Riley says that GSW is “not shopping” Monta Ellis.

It’s not so fun being Allen Iverson lately.  Last week he was begging his way back into the NBA via SLAM magazine and now Tawanna Iverson files for divorce – again.

Jrue Holiday’s younger brother Aaron Holiday scored 54 points in his 1st high school game.  Still we have to give their mom — a former D-I player and current HS coach — credit.  After the game she told the local paper, “He still needs to learn how to get his teammates involved.  He needs to work on his defense.”

John R. Finger of csnphilly.com writes that Markieff Morris could be just what the Sixers need.

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56-26.  The number one seed in the Eastern Conference.  The MVP.  The coach of the year.  The defensive player of the year.  Even the sixth man of the year!  I’m not talking about an old Boston Celtic dynasty team, I’m remembering the 2000-2001 76ers, the season basketball made your heart skip a beat as a diehard Philadelphia sports fan.

It’s been exactly ten years since that improbable march all the way to NBA finals took place.  Larry Brown predicated his team on defense – hmm sound familiar? – and without anything close to a second-tier scorer LB was able muscle his brilliant coaching philosophies into the minds and hearts of this Sixer team.

After an easy first round downing of the Pacers, the Sixers scrapped like schoolboys against probably both the best Raptors and Bucks teams of all-time.  The Raptors had seven players score over nine points per game (Morris Peterson, Keon Clark, Charles Oakley etc.) and more astonishingly finished sixth in attendance.  The Bucks boasted the dynamic threesome of Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell, all of whom were in their prime.  The Sixers outlasted both teams in seven games before falling to Shaq and Phil Jackson…yeah that’s a shot at young Kobe.

Really absorb the list after the jump.  I think it’ll reeealllyyyyy make you appreciate Larry Brown and the things he was able to do these guys.  First, I’ll remind you who the main players were for that 2001 Sixers team and what they are up to now.

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Strangely enough, the 76ers were the third trending NBA topic on Google much of last week.  It was the biggest NBA week of the entire season and yet our team couldn’t stay out of the news. 

There were Iguodala trade rumors running wild, Jrue Holiday’s 21^st birthday and probably most importantly was the ownership situation.  All of this news was happening before the offseason had even officially begun.

True Hoop’s own Henry Abbott broke the news that the sale of the 76ers is ‘imminent’.  Current owner Ed Snider, 78, of Comcast-Spectator has reportedly all but agreed to sell the franchise to Joshua Harris, 46.  Harris is the director of Apollo Global Management LLC. and is speculated to be worth upwards of 1.5 billion dollars. Nice little chunk of change.

If this ownership transfer goes down for the 76ers, I believe on the surface that is a positive thing for the city.  I’m all in favor of a young hands-on owner in the mold of Mark Cuban which hopefully Harris will become.  Plus it’s been abundantly known that Ed Snider is solely a hockey guy and that his acquisition of the Sixers in ‘96 was looked upon as a business decision.  Snider was a founding father of the Flyers in 1966.

So now that you understand the gist of things, how thrilled are you to be a 76er fan?  This could be the most important offseason since the summer of 1982, when Moses Malone was signed as a free agent away from the Houston Rockets.

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This past season, the only thing we enjoyed more then the surprising success of the 2010-11 76ers as a team was the consistent standout play of fourth year man Thaddeus Young. 

Arugably the team MVP, Thad shook off what many viewed as a two year slump to have the best overall season of his career.  His energy, scoring and improved defense were the cornerstone of the best bench in the NBA and a huge part of the Sixers 41 wins this past season. 

We got @Yungsmoove21 on the cell yesterday and he gave Philadunkia scribe Nabeel Ahmadieh a few minutes.  Among the topics they discussed — his upcoming basketball camp in Philly, playing for Coach Collins, the Sixers 2010-11 season, their need for a quality big and of course the elements of his game Thad plans to work on this summer. 

Full interview with Thad after the jump.

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The only thing hotter then the weather in Philadunkia nation right now is the 76ers themselves.  The 7-6 have been all over the news in the last 24 hours…

Obviously the big news is that the Sixers are up for sale and according to TrueHoop’s fearless leader Henry Abbott who broke the story, a deal is, “imminent”.

Of course once Henry had broken the story, then the locals got into the act…

Dei Lynam had a source confirm it. 

First, Kate Fagan went out and “confirmed” the story.  Then she decided that “imminent” was too strong of a word after talking with her sources.

However, the AP is reporting that the sale of the Sixers should be done in a week.

Also the Iguodala for Monta Ellis trade that surfaced weeks ago is suddenly front page news again.  Most of us here at Philadunkia are NOT in favor of this trade.  This team only has room for one player who shoots with no conscience and plays little defense.  Since we already have Louis Williams on the roster, Ellis would not be a great fit.  Relax Louis…We still love you, so don’t go banning us from your Twitter feed again.  Plus from everything we’ve read, Ellis is a locker room nightmare.

Sixers legend Allen Iverson came out of hiding.  Iverson tells SLAM magazine that he is ready to be a “role” player.  If you are a true Sixers fan, you should take the time to read this interview, it’s very interesting.

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The first NBA player, no actually the first athlete I ever fell in love with was Shaquille O’Neal.  Charismatic, powerful, goofy, entertaining and exuberant, Shaq’s image started to become imprinted into the brains of sports fans and then in time, the world.  At first it was Kazam, then it was hilarious bleeped out locker room interviews and ultimately the image of O’Neal screaming “Can you dig it?!” during championship parades in L.A.

His thundering style of play around the basket was something the NBA needed to fill the void of Moses Malone, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.  Shaq was something you couldn’t stop watching.  We here at Philadunkia tip our caps to Shaq on what is no doubt a Hall of Fame career.  He is a true original on and off the court. 

Yet, as amazing has his career ended up being, Shaquille O’Neal was bested by our 76ers a fair share of times.  And since this is still a very dedicated and loyal 76ers site, we’re going to honor Shaq’s career as only we could. 

After hitting the books on some NBA history we came up with the top five moments in which the Sixers got the best of the NBA’s original “Superman”.

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Over the last two weeks we have highlighted what numerous “experts” believe the 76ers will do with the 16th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  If you have been following along, then you know that there is little agreement among the ”experts” on which direction Rod Thorn will go later this month.

The one common thread in these predictions is that all of the “experts” are forecasting that the Sixers will select a big man at No. 16.  For us here at Philadunkia, that’s good news, as we (like a lot of people) have been calling for the 7-6 to address their interior issues for over a year now.  So even though a true “center” may not be available at #16, we’re still hopeful that the Sixers frontcourt will get bigger, faster and more athletic on June 23rd.

After the jump we have an updated look a who numerous “experts” say the 76ers will take in the 2011 Draft.

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Remember that speculation blog post I delved into about a week ago?  The one about the Timberwolves shipping the #2 pick and some players for our #16 and Iguodala? 

That dream scenario got closer to reality last night when the Timberwolves shocked the NBA world and announced that 2009 first round pick Ricky Rubio would be leaving Spain to test out his point guard skills in the world’s premier League.

It is quite clear that Minnesota agreed to fork over a decent amount of cash to convince one of basketball’s most dazzling passers to commit to their sorry organization.  This theoretically means the T-Wolves are not keen on selecting someone they are going to have to pay in the 5 million dollar range, a player that they don’t particularly want.  They would rather spend that money on an established player, rather than another young project.

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Evan Turner recently made an appearance on Daily News Live and discussed his roller coaster rookie season.

Here’s a look at the 2011 NBA Draft projections…

• SI.com forecasts the Sixers will draft 7-0 Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas.
• The fellas at draftexpress.com say the 7-6 will grab Tristan Thompson (PF; Texas).
• Nbadraft.net predicts Rod Thorn will snag Philly native Markieff Morris (Kansas). 
• Chad Ford of ESPN.com agrees that it will be Morris.

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