The last time we asked this question on November 14th, the Sixers were a miserable 2-8 and 87% of you voted that it was time. A few days later, when I wondered aloud when that time would be, 39% said "Before New Year's" and all but 8% said during the season. Andre Iguodala had been nursing his Achilles and his shooting was wildly poor -- having only one game at that point where he was over 50% from the floor.
Now, spurred by the insertion of Jodie Meeks, a new haircut for Spencer Hawes, and a relatively soft schedule, the Sixers have won 7 of their last 9, and sit a half-game behind Milwaukee for the 8th seed in the East. MissionBJ, as I examined a few days ago, may have to be put on hold for a team that had a fire lit under them by Doug Collins. While eighth seed in the East gets them a quick trip to the TD Garden and the rest of the summer off, they're not far away from the Pacers and Knicks at 6/7, which presents a much more manageable matchup with a team like the Bulls. Though I still believe losing out and netting a better draft pick would be better for the team long-term, Doug has his boys playing quality basketball and it doesn't look like they're a top 5 lottery team anymore.
BUT, as Jordan foreshadowed in the Clippers recap, the schedule gets much harder the rest of December, and it's difficult to imagine the Sixers winning more than 3 of those 9 games tops, and 1-2 is probably more realistic for this murderous slate: Lakers, @Magic, @Bulls, @Celtics, @Nuggets, @Warriors, @Suns, @Lakers, @Hornets. Going 2-7 in those games knocks them back down to 12-22 closing in on the halfway point in the season. Would you really want this team to hold onto Iguodala when they're ten games under .500 in January of 2011? Especially if there's a way to deal him and pick up a young big or two to develop the rest of the season, while playing Evan Turner starter's minutes that he hasn't come close to getting in the past month or two.
It's a difficult question and one that Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski are surely bandying about while they sip champagne and listen to Phil Collins (the official music icon of the 2010-11 Sixers). It is undeniable that the Sixers have been much more fun to watch while they're playing good basketball and actually winning games. Trading Iguodala pretty much closes the book on that for the rest of this season.
Weigh in yourself on the poll and discuss with your fellow readers in the comments below.