The Scary Thing Is... He'd Help

Here is how far my NBA team -- your Philadelphia 76ers -- has fallen: when I read that they are in the Darko Sweep Stakes, I was actually intrigued. (The rumors on the Interweb thing say they're fighting the Warriors for him, which makes sense. Darko is the closest thing the league has to Shawn Bradley right now, and we all know that Nellie can't live without intriguing big men who will get owned in a tough playoff series.)

Yes, a career punchline, a man who pulled out a hard 8 and 5 in his big contract year, a guy who is going to go down in history as the Sam Bowie that couldn't play... and he'd actually help my team.

How? Because when your starting PF is from the closed set of Steven Hunter, Joe Smith, Alan Henderson and Shavlik Randolph, and your center is the wildly erratic Sad Sam Dalembert... well, Darko *is* just 20, and he's shown the ability to block shots, and, um, he's got to better than Shavlik Randolph...

Sixers Fever! Catch it, and then get it treated. Quickly.

Update -- Darko signs with the Grizzlies (wtf?) for 3 years and $21 million. That's almost a bargain, really -- no long-term commitment, borderline lottery pick salary. He'll be their starting center, one would presume, until the team decides to give Stro Swift his 400th chance to win the job. Provided they keep the tempo up, he could even be ownable in a roto draft (and, of course, wildly overvalued).

This is also one more moment where casual NBA fans can bemoan the competitive balance problem in the West... err, not.