I like Rodney Carney. That might be a mistake on my part, but I think he is gifted enough to be an NBA player. I also think his time away from the Sixers was better spent, and he comes back a better player than he left.
He's still young and he's been bounced around enough to realize that he's got to become a better player if he wants to extend his NBA career. He has enough athleticism, so it's a matter of him finding his niche, the specific things that he does well. His game should fit in well with the Princeton. And while I don't think he's as good as Young, he'd be a good player to bring in off the bench to replace one of them and still maintain a physical presence. The Sixers needed someone to backup Thad. Smith and Speights aren't small forwards and neither is Brand. Kapono is a guard. Iguodala can't play two positions at once, so the choice would have been to bring in Kapono or Green at the 2, while he rests or move him to the 3 while Thad rests.
Rodney needs to develop his shot and his handle to get to the next level in the NBA, where teams want to keep you and develop you. His big problem is that he's a tweener, too big and physical to be a guard, too short to be a Power Forward, and without the handle or ball skills to play the 3 well. Without the apparent combination of skills to be dominant at either position. He has to become a quality defender and reliable outside shooter if he wants to avoid becoming a journeyman player.
