Celtics Title Town

I call shenanigans on the Howard-Bynum trade, How come the Lakers were able to trade an injured Bynum? How did he pass his physical?

76ers' Andrew Bynum still sidelined

Andrew Bynum did nothing more at Philadelphia 76ers practice than receive some slaps on the back.His teammates tried to cheer up the center with a simple message: Hang in there.

Bynum wanted so much more out of the day he expected to practice for the first time with his new team. Bynum remained sidelined with right knee pain and is a long shot to play in the Oct. 31 opener.

His debut is on hold and no one knows when Bynum will return. He will continue to be held out of all basketball activity until he is pain free from a bone bruise he suffered during an offseason workout. The Sixers had pegged Wednesday as their franchise player's potential return date after a three-week layoff that cost him the entire preseason slate. Instead, Bynum was on the sidelines while the rest of the Sixers practiced and scrimmaged.

"He's a big investment for our team," Sixers general manager Tony DiLeo said. "We want to be cautious."

It's just so odd that the NBA approved the trade. Did the 76ers know that Bynum was out of commission like this? If they did, that's on them.

Other NBA news:

Fans to vote for 3 frontcourt players

Small ball has made its mark on the NBA All-Star ballot.The league announced Wednesday that it was dropping the center spot from the ballot in a nod to the way the sport has changed in recent years.

Fans will vote for three frontcourt players and two guards, instead of two guards, two forwards and a center.

NBA executive vice president of operations Stu Jackson says having a center on the ballot was "outdated and not representative of today's game or players." He adds that players have become more versatile and "this ballot will more accurately reflect that versatility."

Teams like Miami (Chris Bosh), Boston (Kevin Garnett) and San Antonio (Tim Duncan) all used forwards as center with great success last season.

The ballot comes out Nov. 13.

I guess it makes sense in today's NBA. Will see how it looks this season.