Sound The Vuvuzelas - DALEMBERT TRADED!

The day has come where all the frustrations of Samuel Dalembert have been lifted off Philadelphia basketball fans' shoulders. Sammy D is no longer a 76er. Like every other Philly sports fan with the ability to put together a complete thought, we here at TheWizWit have hated Sammy since day one. In case you forgot, THIS was the first post to ever appear on this blog.

You’ll be surprised how much my emotions shifted after hearing this news…

The details as reported by ESPN - The Kings have agreed to trade 22 year old, 7 foot center Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni to Philly for Dalemberts' $14.8M contract.

First hearing this made happy beyond belief. Sammy Dalembert is a terrible basketball player, and we'll never have to be aggravated by him again. Nocioni is an a decent role player off the bench and Hawes (while a little soft) has showed flashes of promise since being drafted in 2007. (sidebar – the Sixers will still be carrying Nocioni’s $7M salary into 2011, so don’t think that getting rid of Sammy’s contract is going to equal a big FA splash next year.)

HOWEVA - after letting it sink in for approximately three and half minutes, I grew scared. I fear this means the Sixers will not choose Evan Turner #2 and totally fuck up everything I had hoped for.  Not to mention - could they have done better in the deal?  Should they have held out for a late pick as well?  Is Nocioni going to create a greater strain on minutes for Thad and Speights?  Will Hawes be too much of a defensive liability?

Those are all questions bouncing around in my head.  But here are two points why, for the first time, things don't seem as clear cut for Turner as I once thought (hoped).

1). Hawes is only under contract through next season.

2). This comes on the heels of Evan Turners' workout in Philly this morning.

To me, unless they are absolutely in love with Hawes and plan on extending him quickly, the center position is going to be a gaping hole on this team in 2011. And is it possible Doug Collins didn’t like what he saw when Turner worked out earlier today? The whole thing just stinks of the Sixers drafting a big man.

I don’t know... maybe I'm just paranoid, but this team has made a lot of terrible decisions in the past. Right now, I can't help but think that it looks like Favors may be their guy.  I hope I'm wrong and they love Hawes' potential and will still draft Evan Turner.  Should they decide to go with Cousins, I'm not watching basketball next year.

We’ll have to wait till next weeks’ draft to see what happens with the #2 pick. Regardless if your rooting for Turner or Favors, at least enjoy the fact you won’t have to see this clown (see below) anywhere near your basketball team again.

So long Sammy.  I’m sure people in Sacramento don't really care about basketball, so you'll fit in just fine.  At least Sammy got to win that Olympic Hockey gold.

UPDATE! With a new picture from TWW friend Dave P:

Pretty sure Keanu is the only person sad-enough to feel bad that you're gone.