Hawes making a good impression with Sixers

THERE ISN'T MUCH Spencer Hawes can't do on the basketball court.

The 7-1 center, whom the 76ers acquired from the Sacramento Kings, along with Andres Nocioni, for Sam Dalembert, has already impressed new teammates and coach Doug Collins with his shooting, passing and total court awareness.

Off the court, Hawes is just as versatile, as comfortable talking about pick-and-rolls as he is discussing world politics or music or current events.

Yesterday morning at Saint Joseph's University, Collins oversaw his first workout with his new team, and was impressed with Hawes, among others.

"He's been great. He's what you call ball-friendly. Teammates love to throw him the ball because he loves to pass. When he gets that ball in the post, guys cut. The thing that I like about him and that his teammates like about him is that he is ball-friendly," said Collins. "Spencer thrives in structure. The more structure there is, he has such a good feel for the game. I love that he's been on another team before. I think with all big guys, especially young big guys, they thrive in that second home."

The dealing of Dalembert was something that was certainly expected, as he had asked the front office numerous times to move him. When general manager Ed Stefanski was able to accommodate Dalembert this summer, he may have wound up getting more than he could have anticipated.

"There were numerous things we were looking for, No. 1 was getting Sam to a new location, because that's what he wanted," Stefanski said. "Two was getting a player to replace him at the center spot. With Spencer, what we like about him is his age [22] and his upside. When he came out of college, we liked him in the draft. I was with the Nets at the time, but they also liked him down here in Philadelphia.

"I also think a change of scenery and a coach like Doug Collins can help him. You can see he has a high IQ for the game. From an offensive standpoint, he is what we need in that he can run the floor and is an excellent passer. Defensively, he'll have to improve a bit. And in Nocioni, we got a tough guy and that's what Doug wanted. He's as tough as you can get."

Nocioni participated in the early part of yesterday morning's practice before sitting out the latter part and last night's practiceto rest his healing left ankle, which he hurt preparing for the FIBA world championships with Argentina.