After Losing the Foundation, What’s Often Left Is the Cellar

By LIZ ROBBINS
Published: December 24, 2006

On his way out of Philadelphia last week, Allen Iverson retraced the path taken by the other superstars the 76ers traded — franchise players who later made the Hall of Fame their final N.B.A. address.


Wilt Chamberlain. Moses Malone. Charles Barkley.

The Sixers never won a title as a result of those trades. Like many other N.B.A. teams that jettisoned franchise players without receiving equal value, Philadelphia fell into disarray and was forced to start anew each time.

Even with Iverson, the Sixers were not heading to the N.B.A. finals, a fact both parties realized, precipitating Iverson’s trade to Denver. Whether the Sixers, who last reached the finals in 2001, do so again soon depends largely on the 2007 draft. They have three first-round picks, two of them coming in the trade with the Nuggets.
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