The good teams always find a way to keep what they need, get rid of the rest, and then add the necessary components to keep the good times going.

	Harpring isn't a rebounder, but he should help Philly's shooting.

But how will the Philadelphia 76ers ever recover from the off-season losses of Todd MacCulloch, Jumaine Jones and Roshown McLeod? OK, they should. The bigger news is that they unloaded recalcitrant rebounder Tyrone Hill as well and that certainly should give the conference champs a new -- but not necessarily better -- look next season.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have done some minor remodeling which, of course, will probably make them even better next season. Gone are Horace Grant, Tyronn Lue and, we presume, Isaiah Rider. Arriving for ring fittings are Samaki Walker, Lindsey Hunter and Mitch Richmond.

Of the two teams still standing last June, the Sixers have made the most significant move with the jettisoning of Hill, whose nickname, Ty Maintenance, was as unflattering as it was legitimate. But he also gave the Sixers an undeniable sheen of toughness inside, something no one on their current roster can do at the power forward spot.

But he also was MIA during the NBA Finals, apparently distracted by an illness to his father. After a solid regular season (9.6 points, 9.0 rebounds) he stumbled badly against the Lakers, averaging 6.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. He was rarely seen at the end of games, with coach Larry Brown opting instead to play four guards around Dikembe Mutombo down the stretch.

	MacCulloch

	Hill

The Sixers got the perennially underachieving Robert Traylor in the Hill deal, along with Matt Harpring and Cedric Henderson. All three players have one thing in common: they are in the final year of their contracts (unless the Sixers extend Harping and Traylor.) They also got Jerome Moiso from Boston for McLeod; that qualifies as a transaction from the Westminster Dog Show, at least regarding Moiso. This is a guy who was the 11th pick in the draft, joined a 35-win team, and scored 35 points ALL YEAR.

So who is going to do the dirty work inside along with Mutombo? Traylor? Matt Geiger, another Brown favorite? Maybe Brown liked what he saw with his small lineup against the Lakers and will use that more often. If nothing else, the Finals did introduce us to Raja Bell, who followed up his Finals performance with an MVP outing at the Shaw's Summer League in Boston.

The Sixers also gave up a first round pick to Boston in the Moiso deal, which is another curiosity. Didn't they understand they were already giving up more than they were getting? And they threw in Jumaine Jones in the Hill deal as an undeniable sweetener. Jones also played well in the Boston summer league and has shown flashes that he can score, a highly sought after commodity on a team which has only one scorer.

But the Sixers still have their core group intact, which is what they will say when you ask them about some of these tangential moves. Allen Iverson is still around, although now he's an honest man as well as an MVP. How will married life treat the Answer? Probably no differently; the pair had been an item for nine years.

Mutombo has re-upped for four years and $68 million and Aaron McKie also re-signed for big dough. That means that four of the five starters are back from last year, unless, of course, you think all those Eric Snow trade rumors have any legs.

One source who should know said that the Sixers have had serious talks about Snow with at least two teams. The arrival of Speedy Claxton will create somewhat of a logjam in the backcourt, which might be why the Sixers are talking. But Snow is one of those valuable, locker-room guys whose everyday impact and influence far transcend his everyday numbers.

To top it off, the team also lost its president, the indefatigable Pat Croce. He was instrumental in brokering the cease-fire between Brown and Iverson and was simply an effervescent and optimistic presence around the team. But Brown and henchman Billy King still do the basketball deals and, clearly, what they saw last June was good, but not quite good enough.

One might argue that no matter what the Sixers do, it won't be enough if Shaq decides to keep playing. If ever the Lakers were going to crash and burn, it was last season when Kobe and Shaq did their Burr-Hamilton thing all season. But they patched it up and then ripped through the playoffs with their piecemeal lineup -- lots of pieces around the two meal tickets.

	Lue

	Walker

The Lakers take those pieces in, give them three squares a day, keep them off the streets until late-June, add to their jewelry collection, and then send them on their way. Grant and Lue found work elsewhere at better wages. They're eminently replaceable, as are the other eight players, as long as Shaq and Kobe are cool.

Phil Jackson can start Walker, another underachiever, in place of Grant. Hunter has the requisite three-point game that all Laker guards must possess. The problem: he didn't make any in the playoffs as the Bucks came within a game of making it to the NBA Finals. Still, he's an upgrade over Lue.

Richmond, meanwhile, can look forward to the first meaningful playoff experience of his NBA life. (Then again, he's only appeared in 21 playoff games, four since 1991.) To say he is an improvement over the clueless Rider is to state the obvious. The Lakers still have Robert Horry, Rick Fox and (when he's healthy) Derek Fisher, three players who made big contributions in the playoffs, as is their wont.

So, the unfortunate news already -- and it's August -- is that the best in the West has gotten better while the beast of the East has, well, reconfigured a bit. The Sixers may be happy to have finally relocated Hill, but until they find someone to replace what he did every night on the floor, he will officially be missed. Tough guys may be pains in the you-know-what, but they're also guys who invariably find their way onto winning teams.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.