What a difference a day makes. One day the Sixers are stuck in relative mediocrity. The next, they?re a force in the Eastern Conference.

What a difference a player makes. Especially when that player is Chris Webber.

Webber follows in the foot steps of players like Dikembe Mutombo, Theo Ratliff, Tyrone Hill, Derrick Coleman, Matt Geiger, Keith Van Horn, Toni Kukoc, and most recently Kenny Thomas. All were at one time or another the best big man in Philadelphia. (In the cases of Van Horn and Kukoc, the words ?big man? should be applied loosely.) Now the best big man in Philadelphia also happens to be the best big man in Philadelphia since Charles Barkley last wore a Sixers uniform 13 seasons ago

The Trade

Who would have thought Sixers General Manager Billy King could swap Chris Webber for Kenny Thomas, and then replace Corliss Williamson with Rodney Rogers? It took two separate deals for that scenario to become reality, but King pulled it off. The Sixers have two new power forwards, and they got a steal of a deal

The Aftermath

Take a look at the Sixers roster after the trades and suddenly you realize that all the pieces seem to fit together nicely.