Every summer I hold my breath when the talking heads bring up the words "Iverson" and "trade" in the same sentence. This time, I exhaled. Not because I think trading Iverson is going to fix this horrible team, but because this time I think the team is serious about it.

I have mixed feelings at this point. On one hand, I pay an obscene amount of money for the NBA League Pass from DirecTV, so I'd like to be able to see Iverson play. On the other hand, this team isn't going anywhere right now. They've got who I consider the best player of his generation and a bunch of mismatched pieces around him. Iguodala is the only legitimate defender on the team, Webber is 6 years past his prime and basically a statue at this point. Kevin Ollie seems like a good guy, but doesn't belong in this league, let alone starting. Dalembert is fast, has a nose for blocking shots, and absolutely no clue on how to play his own man. Korver is a good complimentary player to A.I. and actually a good fit. The problem is that you can't hide his defense when you've got 3 other players on the floor who you need to cover for as well.

So, should they trade Iverson? I guess so, but that's a beginning, not an end. Billy King and Mo Cheeks need to follow him out the door. They need to start from scratch, and the only way they're going to get the cap room and draft picks to do that is to trade their superstar. Unfortunately, they probably won't be able to dump Webber's albatross of a contract with Iverson. 

From when the news broke before the game on Friday night until this morning I've been scratching my head thinking of ways the Sixers could get out from under without trading Iverson, and the only conclusion I could come to is that they can't. Not if he doesn't want to be here anymore. So it's time to lick your wounds 76ers, make the best deal you can, but make sure you get another lottery pick. The number one priority is to make sure you win the Greg Oden sweepstakes. Number two is making sure King and Cheeks aren't still here when you get him.