FanHouse Elton Brand

ORLANDO -- Elton Brand sure seems like a nice enough guy -- respectful, courteous, thoughtful, engaging. He works hard, too.

Yet he also is beginning to look like an albatross hanging around the neck of the Philadelphia 76ers, the guy with the contract that will prevent them from building a serious contender in the coming years.

Brand, 30, is starting his 10th season in the league, but just the second year of that five-year, $80 million contract he signed as a free agent two summers ago. Although the Sixers were convinced that signing him was wise back then, they are having serious reservations now about the move.

It's one painful decision they would like to have back.

The power forward position is the deepest of all positions. Much like I mentioned how many of the the best power forwards are eligible at center, many small forwards and centers have dual eligibility at power forward. The range of ability consists of some of the league's best rebounders, scorers, three-point specialists, and efficient shooters. Some fantasy owners load up on power forwards and slot them into their center and utility positions. This position runs so deep, so deep that 50 players may not be enough to cover each and every fantasy relevant power forward. The depth leaves great value toward the end of drafts, but there's no reason to sleep on the players atop the draft board.

Again, I followed Fleaflicker's fantasy basketball positional eligibility. The rankings are based on standard, 8-category head-to-head (H2H) scoring: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, three-pointers, field-goal percentage, and free-throw percentage.

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PHOENIX -- The Sixers almost came back from an 18-point deficit in the final eight minutes on Friday against the Suns, but the guys usually on the end of Phoenix's bench -- Dan Dickau, Carlos Powell, et al. -- were able to hang on just enough to secure a two-point victory.

Marreese Speights, a second-year player who averaged just under eight points and four rebounds a game last season, was a big reason for the Sixers' strong comeback. He scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, while also finishing with 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Even though this is the preseason, it was still a career game for Speights, and one that you'd think his new head coach, Eddie Jordan, would be excited about. But that wasn't exactly the case.

Several NBA players missed significant parts of last season because of injury. Here's a quick rundown of how some of them are doing with training camps set to begin next week for most teams:

Gilbert Arenas, Washington (knee): He's had three surgeries on his knee in a year and a half, but Arenas said he'll be ready for the start of training camp. Of course, he took things a step further by saying that had he continued to rehab in Washington, instead of working with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago, he wouldn't have made it back as fast.

Let's take our attention for a moment off the NBA playoffs and look ahead to the 2009-10 season. It was a tough year for several players around the league. So tough, in fact, that they'll have some bouncing back to do next year.

Here are five players – and a sixth man -- who should have the most to prove in 2009-10:

--Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets. Technically, a team with McGrady on the roster – this year's Rockets – advanced to the second round of the playoffs. That would be a first. Except we all know McGrady didn't play in the postseason and wasn't around down the stretch for Houston.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

The 76ers are one of the big stories in this year's NBA Playoffs. Back when the season began they couldn't win a game. Now they're giving the Orlando Magic a run for their money, pushing the third seed to a 2-2 series tie before Tuesday night's Game 5, all without powerhouse Elton Brand. In this video, we get to know the 76ers a little bit better, learning about Andre Iguodala's leaping ability, what inspired Samuel Dalembert to play basketball, how Thaddeus Young got the No. 21, and everything there is to know about Royal Ivey's tattoos.

Check out the video, after the jump.

FanHouse previews the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

Is there a series in the 2009 Playoffs -- outside of Lakers v. FearMongers Jazz, that seems less likely to end in an upset? Because I'm pretty sure the answer is "no." (See our predictions, if you don't believe me.) I'll justify the other sweeps like this: Detroit is still Detroit, Boston doesn't have Kevin Garnett and we're all to scared to pick against Dwyane Wade. Of course, a certain post-powered, caped-crusader is the same reason that I'm not even contemplating a Philadelphia win, so maybe it evens out.

The 76ers welcomed Elton Brand back to practice yesterday, the first time he's taken part in contact drills since dislocating his shoulder Dec. 17. He was limited to half-court drills his first day back, but he was expected to cleared for full-court scrimmage today, according to Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Assuming all goes well, he could be back in the lineup by the end of the week.

That's a good thing, right? On paper, without a doubt. But in real life? Only time will tell. The Sixers struggled to find their identity with Brand in the lineup earlier in the season, and Andre Iguodala in particular chaffed in the role of second banana.

The 76ers announced yesterday that Elton Brand will be sidelined for the next month. After leaving Wednesday's game with a dislocated shoulder, an MRI revealed that Brand suffered a fractured humeral head (the part of his arm bone that connects to his shoulder) as well as a torn labrum. As bad as it sounds, his injury doesn't appear to need surgery, which means he can begin rehabilitation immediately.

It'll be interesting to see how the Sixers respond to Brand's injury. He's been the team's leading scorer this year, but his presence in the lineup is also a big reason why the team hasn't been able to play at a faster pace, which in turn was one of the biggest reasons why Mo Cheeks was let go.

But with Brand on the sideline, this roster will look an awful lot like last year's squad, which got up and down the court in a hurry. Andre Iguodala will resume his role as the team's primary offensive threat, which can only help him snap out of his early-season funk. This team still needs another perimeter shooter, but if they're able to get easy buckets in transition and spend less time setting up half-court sets, that need is somewhat diminished for the moment.

Eventually this team will need to figure out a way to win with Brand, whether it's adjusting their style of play or adding another shooter to the lineup, but they have several weeks before they need to cross that bridge.

Big things were expected from Andre Iguodala after he signed a six-year, $80 million contract this summer. Unfortunately, he's been slow out of the gate, averaging just 13 points on 39% shooting in October/November while fading into the background as Elton Brand carved out his niche, Thaddeus Young asserted himself and Andre Miller picked up the slack.

But finally, with a quarter of the season in the books, the old Iguodala is starting to shine through. The 76ers lost the game on Saturday, but for the first time in the team's 22 games this year, Iguodala led the team in scoring.

Sure, it's a minor victory in the face of a loss (and it wasn't wholly unexpected given Brand's absence), but there's no denying that Iggy has seemed to turn the corner: in four games this month, he's averaging 19.5 points and 8.3 boards on 49.2% shooting.

What was behind Iggy's slow start? Speaking to the press before Friday's game, Mo Cheeks dismissed the notion that Iguodala struggled to adjust from the three to the two, pointing out that in Philly's system the two positions are quite similar.