Toronto?s Jalen Rose and Sacramento?s Mike Bibby today were named the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, February 22 through Sunday, February 27.

Rose helped his team to a perfect 3-0 week with wins over New Jersey, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Lakers.  He averaged 24 points (up 6.9 points from his season average) on .553 shooting (up nine percent) and added 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.  He led his team in scoring with 30 points at New Jersey including 10 points in the fourth quarter and later in the week, had a team-high 26 points including 12 fourth-quarter points versus the Lakers.

Bibby averaged 26.5 points on .462 shooting, resulting in a 3-1 week with wins versus Atlanta, at Philadelphia and at Washington and a loss to Dallas.  He led his team in assists in all four contests and led the team in scoring in three of the four games.  In a 110-108 win at Washington, he scored 38 points and made five three-pointers.

Two of the league's best point guards battled things out in the points column and while Gilbert Arenas scored 43 and Mike Bibby scored 38, Bibby's Kings won their second consecutive game by just 2 points, beating the Wizards 110-108.

The Wizards got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Kwame Brown, but was bested by Brad Miller's 12 points and 10 rebounds of his own.  Steve Blake chipped in 17 in 34 minutes.

The Sacramento win came just one day after an emotional two-point victory in Philadelphia versus former King Chris Webber.

The Wizards dropped to 31-24

Despite the best efforts of the Philly faithful to pray for a happy beginning to the Chris Webber Era, the Sixers could not hold on to an early double digit lead and wound up losing to the visiting Sacramento Kings, 101-99.

With only a few seconds remaining, Allen Iverson found himself on the foul line for one last shot and the Sixers trailing by two. The only option was the old ?miss it on purpose and hope my teammates can come up with the rebound? play. Iverson couldn?t have missed it any better. The ball rolled off the rim and landed comfortably in Webber?s outstretched hands. But the buzzer sounded after his rushed putback attempt landed just inches short of sending the game into overtime.

Webber?s first game as a member of the Sixers had its fair share of highlights. Unfortunately, for Sixers fans, the biggest one of them all came courtesy of Cuttino Mobley and his go-ahead trey in the fourth. On the night when Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner made their strange homecoming to Philadelphia - the city that they never really got to leave yet - after being traded for Chris Webber, it was the homegrown Philly product Mobley who stole the show with a special homecoming of his own. Mobley finished as one of six Kings to score in double figures with 17 points.

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.

In their first game without forward Chris Webber, the Sacramento Kings travelled to Dallas and blew a 4th quarter lead, losing 122-113.

Don Nelson was ejected and Avery Johnson took over as general.

"I'm really proud of us gutting this win out," said assistant coach Avery Johnson, who took over for Nelson. "They handled a lot of adversity during the course of the game. ... Everybody that touched the court tonight contributed in some way."

Both teams suited just eight players, as they were both active before the trade deadline.

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Billy King announced tonight that the Sixers have acquired five-time NBA All-Star forward Chris Webber, along with forwards Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley, in exchange for forwards Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas and Corliss Williamson.

Drafted with the No. 1 overall selection of the 1993 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, Webber's draft rights were traded to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee Hardaway and draft picks.  Webber won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 1994 and has since been selected to the All-NBA team five times.  He was a first-team selection in 2001; earned second-team honors in 2003, 2002 and 1999; and was a third-team winner in 2000.  This season, Webber is averaging 21.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.48 steals, and 0.74 blocks in 36.3 minutes over 46 games (46 starts).  He has registered single-game highs of 36 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists, four steals and three blocks in 2004-05 and was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Month for January 2005.  The University of Michigan product has career averages of 22.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.61 blocks, and 1.5 steals in 38.1 minutes per game over 665 contests in his 12-year career with Golden State (1993-94), Washington (1994-98), and Sacramento (1998-2005).  The 6-foot-10, 245 pound native of Detroit has played in 59 career playoff games, averaging 21.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.39 blocks, and 1.2 steals in 39.2 minutes. He has played in four All-Star games (1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002), missing the 2003 game due to injury.

Barnes, a 6-foot-7, 226-pound second-year player, has career averages of 4.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 81 games.  Drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round (46th overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft, the UCLA product's draft rights were traded along with Nick Anderson to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Wesley Person.  He was waived by the Cavaliers on Oct. 18, 2002, and spent the 2002-03 season with the NBDL's Fayetteville Patriots.  Barnes landed in Los Angeles last season where he played 38 games for the Clippers.  This season in Sacramento, he's played in 43 games with averages of 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound  Bradley was selected after his junior season at Villanova University by the Toronto Raptors with the 17th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft. He has played 125 career games with Toronto (2001-04), Atlanta (2003-04), Orlando (2004-05) and Sacramento (2004-05). Signed by Orlando as a free agent on July 29, 2004, he was included in the trade that sent Kings forward Doug Christie to the Magic in exchange for Bradley and Cuttino Mobley on January 10, 2005. Bradley has averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game over 16 contests, eight games each with the Magic and Kings, this season. In his four-year NBA career, the Worcester, Mass., native has compiled averages of 3.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game.

Skinner, a 6-foot-9 forward, has played in 24 games for the Sixers this season while averaging 2.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game. He has missed 13 games due to injury with left knee synovitis. A first round draft pick (22nd overall) by the Clippers in the 1998 NBA Draft, the former Baylor product has seen action with the L.A. Clippers (1998-01), Cleveland (2001-02), Philadelphia (2002-03 and 2004-05) and Milwaukee (2003-04). Skinner enjoyed his best season in 2003-04 by averaging 10.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.09 blocks per game with the Bucks. He has appeared in the playoffs with two teams: Philadelphia (2002-03) and Milwaukee (2003-04). In his seventh NBA season, he has career averages of 5.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 18.8 minutes per game in 315 games (103 starts).
 
Thomas, a 6-foot-7 forward, is averaging 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 47 contests (43 starts) this season. Thomas has scored 20 or more points eight times and has seven double-doubles. Versus Milwaukee on Dec. 14, he grabbed 17 rebounds, the most by a Sixers player this season. Currently in the midst of his sixth NBA season, Thomas has career averages of 10.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 29.9 minutes in 405 games (278 starts). He was acquired by Philadelphia on Dec. 18, 2002, from Houston. In 2003-04, the University of New Mexico product was one of 11 players in the NBA to average a double-double (13.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and ranked among the NBA leaders in rebounds per game (9th, 10.1), offensive rebounds per game (4th, 3.5), double-doubles (13th, 34) and field goal percentage (33rd, .469). He scored a career-high 31 points at Golden State on March 24, 2002, and had a 20-point, 20-rebound game at Orlando (3/31/03) with 24 points and 20 rebounds, the first by a 76ers player since Jan. 2, 1997. During his career with Houston, who drafted him 22nd overall in the 1999 NBA Draft, he averaged 9.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 28.1 minutes in 238 games (135 starts) and led the Rockets in total rebounds as a rookie (437), standing with Elton Brand as the only rookies to lead their team in total rebounds.

Williamson has played in 48 games (5 starts) for the 76ers this season. The 6-foot-7 forward has scored 10 or more points 28 times and has had two games with 20 or more points, both in games that Allen Iverson did not dress. He has averaged 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 22.0 minutes per game this season. He missed four games this season due to a left knee MCL sprain suffered at San Antonio (12/1). Currently in his 10th NBA season, he was named the 2002 NBA Sixth Man after averaging 13.6 points per game with 51.0 percent shooting with Detroit. Williamson has also played with Sacramento (1995-00), Toronto (2000-01) and Detroit (2001-04). Last season, he helped the Pistons to an NBA championship and can also count an NCAA championship with Arkansas in 1994. Selected by the Kings in the first round (13th overall pick), he has career averages of 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 23.9 minutes in 693 games (288 starts).

The trade deadline is tomorrow and the Knicks are looking for anything to turn their dismal season around, a player that can bring them back in time for a legitimate playoff push.

Among those names are Antoine Walker, Donyell Marshall and now Chris Webber of Sacramento.  With Webber, the Knicks would take on another big contract with injury strings attached.  Now Webber has recovered nicely averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds this season.  Regardless, with Webber and Houston the Knicks would have $110 million tied up in aging stars coming off microfracture knee surgery

David Aldridge reported at the All-Star game that the Lakers are very keen to make a trade and that everyone is talking about a deal which would send Lamar Odom to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson.

Both the Lakers and Kings have denied speaking to one another about this deal, but Aldridge reported that there was validity to the rumors.

Also coming out of Denver is a rumor that has Carlos Boozer coming over to the Lakers in exchange for Caron Butler, Vlade Divac and Devean George.

It is possible for the Lakers to pull the trigger on both deals, which would give them a starting five of Chucky Atkins, Kobe Bryant, Peja, Boozer and Chris Mihm, a team that would be dangerous in the playoffs.

Both trades have been accepted by RealGM.com's Trade Checker.

Jason Kidd is proving that he is ready and able to make a championship run, as he had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assits for the Nets in a 96-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

`We know our backs are against the wall and every game counts for us,'' said Kidd. ``We have to minimize our losses and can't afford a losing streak. We've been playing well over the last month. This gives us a big win to end the first half and gives us something to build on.''

This from a man who many believe would like to join Kevin McHale and Kevin Garnett in Minnesota on a championship run.

Nenad Kristic had a career-high 18 points and Mike Bibby led the Kings with 25 of his own.

With each game, the Bulls are proving more and more that they are for real.

Against the Kings, they got a great performance from Eddy Curry, as he scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, dominating the Sacramento frountcourt of Brad Miller and Chris Webber.

Curry trade rumors have been flooding the papers since the summertime, but with a series of great performances and a commitment to working hard and winning, he appears to now be on the untouchable list.

Curry is slimmer and in good shape, playing in 45 minutes on Tuesday.