Kenny Payne

The 76ers signed first-round draft choice Kenny Payne to a multiyear contract yesterday, eliminating one possible distraction from the team's training camp, which opens next week. Payne, a 6-foot-8 shooting forward from Louisville, is expected to play a considerable role on offense this season. The rookie, who was the 19th pick overall in the draft, should help fill the scoring gap created by the loss of former Sixer Cliff Robinson to injury and free-agency. Terms of the five-year contract were not disclosed, but it is believed Payne will earn between $400,000 and $425,000 a season, including three guaranteed seasons and partial guarantees for the remainder of the pact.

In the hard, sharp noise of a professional basketball game - the squeak of shoes, the squawk of the foul-seekers - you can still hear the whispering promise of Kenny Payne. While those about him have alternately succeeded and failed in the uneven competition of the Southern California Summer Pro League, Payne has been a steady presence for the 76ers' team here. This is Payne's third trip to this league, and probably his last as a member of the Sixers. The 6-foot-8 small forward either will play his way into the regular rotation this year and be excused from such mundane work in the future, or he will be jettisoned.

The Sixers held their annual Winners Ball last night at the Twelve Caesars on City Line Avenue, for the benefit of the Special Olympics. (Standing, from left): Charles Barkley, Ron Anderson, Kenny Payne, Kurt Nimphius, Bob Thornton, Lanard Copeland and Rick Mahorn; (Seated, from left): Scott Brooks, Mike Gminski, Hersey Hawkins and Derek Smith.

Hersey Hawkins arrived with fanfare. His acquisition by the Sixers in a slick draft-day deal last year was universally acclaimed. He had been the leading collegiate scorer in the country. Nearly every basketball fan in the Delaware Valley knew who he was and what his game was about. Kenny Payne arrived with no fanfare and much controversy. Acquired by the Sixers in this year's first round as the result of that slick deal the year before, he was widely viewed as an underachiever in college.

Mitchell Wiggins' sore right knee was given careful scrutiny yesterday, and team physician Jack McPhilemy found nothing out of the ordinary: a small bruise, some inflammation, but no damaged ligaments that would require further attention. Wiggins has missed four games because of pain and fluid in the knee, a condition that began after the veteran guard played a season-high 16 minutes in the second of back-to-back games on Nov. 23. The Sixers feel they need bench help right now, and might place Wiggins on the injured list while they bring in a scorer to jolt the sagging offense into motion.

Kenny Payne, the 76ers' No. 1 draft choice, was admitted to Osteopathic Hospital for treatment of acute dehydration yesterday following Day 2 of the team's rookie and free-agent camp at St. Joseph's University. According to Sixers general manager John Nash, Payne complained of muscle cramps and was in obvious discomfort during the team's afternoon session. Following the workout, during which he drilled several long-range jumpers, Payne experienced severe stomach pains and was taken to the hospital.

Derek Smith's name is not exactly etched in stone on next season's 76ers roster. It is not etched in ink on the contract offer the Sixers presented in mid- June. Right now, it is not etched anywhere, and not just because Smith qualifies as an unrestricted free agent. The situation remains in limbo because the 6-6 Smith and his attorney, Ron Grinker, are less than ecstatic with the one-year offer that includes, by NBA standards, a low base and various productivity clauses.

Charles Barkley watched the 76ers lose to Boston Sunday on television. That's as close as he was allowed to the action because he was serving a one-game suspension in the aftermath of last Thursday night's brawl with Detroit in Auburn Hills, Mich. The rules said Barkley had to be out of the Spectrum by 11 a.m. So he stayed teleside and agonized as the Sixers finished their regular season with a 118-98 loss. "I watched, but I kept flicking to the NFL draft," Barkley said.

Forward Tim Perry, who had fluid drained from a hyperextended right knee, resumed practice yesterday with the 76ers, surprising coach Doug Moe. "I was surprised he could run that much," Moe said. "I saw him walk in before we started, I didn't even expect him to practice. He just walks funny. " Perry expects to wear a brace for about three weeks. "Most days, my confidence is good, some days I struggle," Perry said. "(Moe) tells me to concentrate on defense. Just play defense, rebound and run the floor.

Push the ball. That's what the 76ers set out to do, that's what they did for one impressive half last night. And then they stopped. "We began to pull the ball back out, began to set up halfcourt, and that just slowed us down," the Sixers' Ron Anderson said after last night's 101-96 loss to the Chicago Bulls. That left the Sixers down, 0-2, in their best-of-seven second-round NBA playoff series, knowing they might have been able to go home last night in much better shape.

NEW YORK - Do you remember the 2006 NBA draft? In an effort to appease hissed-off season ticketholders, the 76rs decided to have a party for fans at the Wachovia Center, even though they had only the 13th overall pick in an extremely suspect draft. It was lightly attended, but when NBA commissioner David Stern announced, via the television scoreboard, the Sixers had picked Thabo Sefolosha, a guard from Switzerland, the boos that resonated made the building sound like a full house.

WELCOME TO YOUR first NBA draft as president and general manager of the 76ers, Ed Stefanski. Hope you survive the experience, or at least do better than many of your predecessors. It's unreasonable to expect Stefanski to find a franchise-altering player at No. 16 in tonight's draft, but hopefully, he will buck the trend of the majority of the Sixers' draft history and hit a double to left instead of whiffing on a third strike. The Sixers' draft results are full of what-ifs, did-not-becomes, and flat-out misses.

Pro basketball is back in. That's the statement the 76ers made when they beat the Orlando Magic 103-86 on national television two weeks ago. It had been six years since the Sixers were on network TV. It's been eight years since they made the playoffs. Their series with the Magic starts today. This shortened NBA season has been a beacon for downtrodden fans in NBA cities such as Philadelphia and Sacramento, who consistently have had a seat at the NBA lottery table during the '90s.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at the St. Stephen Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., for the funeral of Washington Bullets assistant coach Derek Smith, a former 76ers player who died aboard a cruise ship last Friday. NBA players Charles Barkley, Rex Chapman, Calbert Cheaney, Johnny Dawkins, Pervis Ellison, Juwan Howard, Rick Mahorn, Danny Manning, Gheorghe Muresan and John Starks were among those in attendance yesterday. They joined Smith's wife, Monica, and their two children, Sydney and Nolan, and about 1,000 friends and family members to honor Smith, a former University of Louisville star who played nine seasons in the NBA with five teams.

The 76ers surprised no one last night by selecting Georgetown University's Allen Iverson as the first pick in the National Basketball Association draft. But in choosing the quick, flashy 21-year-old who is expected to play point guard, the Sixers did more than fulfill an obvious need on the basketball court. They added what they believe is a major building block in the restructuring of one of the NBA's sickest franchises. Some 5,000 fans cheered Iverson's choice at the first draft party the Sixers have dared host since 1989, when their announcement of Kenny Payne as their first pick was roundly and, it turned out, rightly booed.

Beginning their off-season search for talent very quickly, the Sixers hope to have a new player in uniform when they play the Chicago Bulls tonight. Thomas "T.J. " Jordan, a sleek 6-foot-9 forward, is expected to be signed today after he is officially declared a free agent. Jordan recently finished playing in the Spanish professional league and has spent four seasons overseas since a one-year collegiate career at Oklahoma State. Jordan, 24, accompanied the Sixers to Chicago last night after passing the team physical.

The Sixers began to retool their roster yesterday with an eye to the future, releasing seldom-used veteran forward Kenny Payne. Payne's release also saves the Sixers some money. Only half of his $500,000 salary, the final year of a four-year contract, was guaranteed this season. By requesting waivers yesterday, the Sixers beat the league deadline of Sunday, when contracts become locked in for the remainder of the season. If he had not been waived yesterday, the Sixers would have owed him the additional $250,000.

In many ways, Kenny Payne never had a chance. When his name was announced to the crowd at the Spectrum on draft night in 1989, they booed. John Nash, the Sixers' general manager at the time, couldn't control the crowd. Jim Lynam, then the Sixers' coach, tried to calm the them by explaining that Payne, drafted 19th overall, was the closest thing to former Sixers forward Cliff Robinson. The crowd wasn't placated. Yesterday, Payne was waived. It was a decision based partially on finances.

Medical bulletins and body counts occupied the 76ers yesterday. Hersey Hawkins and Jeff Hornacek missed practice, Andrew Lang was barred from attending, and coach Doug Moe had to ice down an aching right knee. "I'm going on the injured list," Moe said as he limped off the court and headed for the trainer's table. Did that mean general manager Jim Lynam was about to be activated? "Please," Lynam demurred, with an upward cast of his eyes. The Sixers are enjoying a slow week of practice and rehabilitation before starting a four-game Western road trip on Saturday in Portland, Ore. They are enjoying it particularly because the break comes when the team is on a two- game winning streak.

Is Jeff Hornacek home alone? Is the Sixers' starting guard the only one in the locker room truly disgusted with the team's dismal, 3-8 start? Is he the only one prepared to fire back in the midst of a four-game losing streak, a three-game losing streak at home, a downhill slalom that now includes Saturday night's 117-109 loss to the less-than-wonderful Boston Celtics at the Spectrum? "You talk about homecourt advantage, but we don't have one," Hornacek said, trying to look ahead to Wednesday night's Spectrum date with San Antonio.