Bynum on schedule to practice soon

Speaking to members of the media, 76ers GM Andrew Bynum revealed that Bynum was progressing well and was on schedule to participate in practice by the first week in February, according to Chris Vito of the Delaware County Daily Times.

"It's exciting, definitely. You can see it in his body language," DiLeo said.

Contrary to our earlier report, Bynum feels that a return after the all-star break is the most likely scenario.

Bynum stated that he is ahead of schedule and that the pain is subsiding.

"We're very encouraged," coach Doug Collins said. "The most important thing is he's encouraged."

Obviously, there's still plenty of time for setbacks. Having just started changing direction and not yet playing in contact drills, Bynum still has many hurdles to overcome before logging game minutes. That being said, for a team that is treading water -- but still alive, particularly after 8th seeded Boston lost Rajon Rondo for the season -- any good news on this front is downright exciting.

Can Bynum and Jrue play together "for a long time"? What kind of duo can Bynum and Holiday make? What chances to do have of being a surprise team in the playoffs if Bynum is able to come back to his former self and remain healthy the rest of the season?

We're still many steps away (on cartilage deprives knees) from finding out, but as each bit of good news comes out from the twitterverse, the dreams become easier and easier to imagine.

By the way, Bynum even dunked. ON A BASKETBALL COURT. Take that, Eastern Conference.