Kenny Thomas

Notice how short the 76ers' bench was last night? At halftime of their home game against Minnesota, the Sixers announced that they had traded forwards Mark Bryant and Art Long plus a future first-round draft pick to Denver, and acquired forward Kenny Thomas from Houston. To complete the deal, the Nuggets sent James Posey to Houston and received a future second-round pick from the Rockets. The Sixers gave up relatively little for a player who has started 14 of the Rockets' 20 games this season, averaging 9.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 29.3 minutes.

He watches Ben Wallace and Elton Brand, how they move, where they go and what they do. Kenny Thomas is an avid learner, and his subject these days is rebounding. Thomas might not be as thick or as big as Wallace and Brand - at least not since dropping significant pounds in the last year - but he still wants to grab boards with abandon, and lately, he has. In the 76ers' last five games, Thomas has averaged 11.2 rebounds and contributed four double-doubles, including 18 points and 11 rebounds Saturday night in the Sixers' 110-89 win over Atlanta.

It was all Houston's sellout crowd could ask for: another chance to boo Scottie Pippen and to see the Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers. Steve Francis scored 26 points, including six in the final 3 minutes, 37 seconds, as the Rockets held off the Trail Blazers, 90-89, last night for their season-high, fourth straight victory. "This is the first time for me to win four in a row in the NBA and it really feels good," Francis said. "With all the injuries that we have had and Hakeem [Olajuwon]

After nearly a week of watching Kenny Thomas perform, Jim O'Brien has some wonderful things to say about the 76ers' starting power forward. But it's what Jack Ramsay, a Hall of Fame coach who is a basketball analyst for ESPN, said about Thomas after observing him at training camp last week that O'Brien feels speaks volumes about the player's ability and potential. "Kenny Thomas really blew Jack away," O'Brien said. "Jack really had no idea as to how good of a basketball player Kenny Thomas was. If you can impress Jack Ramsay, you're a pretty damn good player.

Kenny Thomas has a sly sense of humor, a left bicep the size of a softball, a sprout of beard on his chin and, since January, a best friend named Jim. And now, thanks to Jim, there is someone to notice and appreciate all the rest. They are a wonderfully mismatched odd couple, a link forged by the Friend- Advocate program of the Delaware County Association for Retarded Citizens: Jim McDonough, 42, a banker in a gray business suit, married, father of three, and Kenny Thomas, 22, a former high school quarterback in jeans and sneakers, seriously brain-damaged in a motorcycle accident and, until recently, virtually without friends or family.

Jim O'Brien liked the way Kenny Thomas handled the obvious frustration of not being in the 76ers' starting lineup for about two weeks. So, for the first time since Nov. 21, six games ago, O'Brien, the Sixers coach, put Thomas back in the starting lineup at power forward for last night's game against the Houston Rockets. The 6-foot-7 Thomas was replaced in the starting lineup by little-known Josh Davis on Nov. 24 against Boston. He played three minutes in that game, then never left the bench at all two days later in the Sixers' overtime win over Washington.

Greg Buckner was brought to Philadelphia in 2002 by Larry Brown as a defensive specialist, a rebounder and a guy who could score on occasion. Before he played a minute with the team, he signed a six-year, $18 million contract. But once Brown resigned as the 76ers' head coach in May 2003, Buckner became just another bench guy, one who saw his playing time and production drop sharply. The Sixers unloaded him in the off-season. The Denver Nuggets picked him up. And Buckner, well, let him tell it. "I'm happy as hell," Buckner said last night before the Nuggets' game against the Sixers.

He looked unsure going through pregame drills in his black-and-blue 76ers warm-ups. Nearly 48 hours after being traded from Houston to Philadelphia in a three-team deal, Kenny Thomas was still, as he put it, in shock. About 5 p.m. Wednesday, before the Rockets took on Indiana, Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich called Thomas, who was taking a pregame nap. Thomas started shaking at the news that he had been traded. "I'd never been traded," he said before the Sixers hosted the Los Angeles Lakers last night.

Winning in the Lone Star State won't be easy for NBA outsiders this season. The 76ers found that out Friday night in San Antonio. The Houston Rockets reminded them of it last night. The Sixers completed a two-city Texas two-step last night, falling to the Rockets, 97-72, at the Compaq Center. "This is two games," coach Larry Brown said. "A lot of teams have trouble in Texas. We just have to get better. " The Sixers (15-6) have lost two straight for only the second time this season.

Coach Jim O'Brien delivered the message to the 76ers on the first day of training camp. And it is as true today as it was in early October. Playing time will be earned. Through seven games, O'Brien has stuck to his word. That is why an assorted group of players has been on the court for the meaningful fourth-quarter minutes. Recently, one of those players hasn't been starting power forward Kenny Thomas. Last season, Thomas was one of only 11 NBA players to average a double-double: 13.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Sometimes, the key to success in the NBA is fitting in. Kenny Thomas seemed to be an ill fit in coach Jim O'Brien's system with the 76ers, and Brian Skinner didn't fit in at all. Now, however, the two players seem to be ideal fits for the Sacramento Kings, and they have flourished since the six-player trade on Feb. 23 that put Chris Webber in a Sixers uniform. "It's like I went to Palm Springs," Skinner said last night before the Kings faced the Sixers at Arco Arena. Asked if he was happy in Sacramento, Thomas quickly replied: "Yes, I am. " "It's the way we pass the ball, the way we play," he said.

A night that started with an emotional standing ovation for the 76ers' Chris Webber ended with loud cheers for the Sacramento Kings - and for the futility of the ex-King who couldn't buy a basket after the first quarter. In his much-anticipated return to California, Webber managed to make only four of his last 21 shots from the field while being upstaged by two of the players sent to the Kings in the trade that brought him to Philadelphia. Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner were the ex-Sixers who contributed in a big way to the Kings' 118-109 victory last night in front of a sellout crowd at Arco Arena.

Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner couldn't contain their excitement when they learned they would be continuing their NBA careers in a new location. Corliss Williamson wasn't looking to leave Philadelphia, but was nevertheless eager to begin another portion of his well-traveled career. Lost amid the hoopla surrounding the debut of five-time all-star Chris Webber in a 76ers uniform last night was the fact that the three players the team traded to get Webber from the Sacramento Kings were dressing in the visiting locker room at the Wachovia Center.

The 76ers last night made a definitive push for an Atlantic Division title and a run in the NBA playoffs, acquiring five-time all-star forward Chris Webber from the Sacramento Kings in a six-player deal. The Sixers dealt away their two power forwards, starter Kenny Thomas and reserve Corliss Williamson, along with center/forward Brian Skinner. They also picked up forwards Michael Bradley and Matt Barnes from the Kings. Sixers president and general manager Billy King said late last night that talks for the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Webber began yesterday morning and heated up throughout the day and into the night.

The 76ers were coasting along with a huge lead in the first half last night when a spectator in a courtside seat at the Delta Center got coach Jim O'Brien's attention. "He said, 'Young man, your team is playing really great basketball,' " O'Brien recalled. "I said, 'Yeah, but it's a long game. We just want to win by one. It really doesn't matter how much you win by.' " The Sixers got off to their fastest start of the season, running out to an 18-point first-quarter lead, and spent the rest of the night trying to fend off the Utah Jazz.

Greg Buckner was brought to Philadelphia in 2002 by Larry Brown as a defensive specialist, a rebounder and a guy who could score on occasion. Before he played a minute with the team, he signed a six-year, $18 million contract. But once Brown resigned as the 76ers' head coach in May 2003, Buckner became just another bench guy, one who saw his playing time and production drop sharply. The Sixers unloaded him in the off-season. The Denver Nuggets picked him up. And Buckner, well, let him tell it. "I'm happy as hell," Buckner said last night before the Nuggets' game against the Sixers.

Jim O'Brien liked the way Kenny Thomas handled the obvious frustration of not being in the 76ers' starting lineup for about two weeks. So, for the first time since Nov. 21, six games ago, O'Brien, the Sixers coach, put Thomas back in the starting lineup at power forward for last night's game against the Houston Rockets. The 6-foot-7 Thomas was replaced in the starting lineup by little-known Josh Davis on Nov. 24 against Boston. He played three minutes in that game, then never left the bench at all two days later in the Sixers' overtime win over Washington.

The 76ers have shown on their dreadful road trip to be consistent in one area, and that is being a cure-all for what had been ailing their opponent. The Houston Rockets were the latest team to get well at the Sixers' expense. Despite a horrendous shooting night, the Rockets got a long jumper from Tracy McGrady with 25.6 seconds to defeat the Sixers, 77-76, last night at the Toyota Center to break a five-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the negative streaks continued for the Sixers, who have lost four straight overall and six in a row on the road.

Coach Jim O'Brien delivered the message to the 76ers on the first day of training camp. And it is as true today as it was in early October. Playing time will be earned. Through seven games, O'Brien has stuck to his word. That is why an assorted group of players has been on the court for the meaningful fourth-quarter minutes. Recently, one of those players hasn't been starting power forward Kenny Thomas. Last season, Thomas was one of only 11 NBA players to average a double-double: 13.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

After nearly a week of watching Kenny Thomas perform, Jim O'Brien has some wonderful things to say about the 76ers' starting power forward. But it's what Jack Ramsay, a Hall of Fame coach who is a basketball analyst for ESPN, said about Thomas after observing him at training camp last week that O'Brien feels speaks volumes about the player's ability and potential. "Kenny Thomas really blew Jack away," O'Brien said. "Jack really had no idea as to how good of a basketball player Kenny Thomas was. If you can impress Jack Ramsay, you're a pretty damn good player.