The Boston Celtics added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen...

The New York Knicks brought in Zach Randolph...

The New Jersey Nets will welcome back big man Nenad Krstic...

Even the Toronto Raptors brought in some exciting role players in Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino.

The Sixers? They settled for chemistry.

In fairness, Philadelphia did make a minor move -- acquiring power forward Reggie Evans from the Denver Nuggets -- and added a couple of first round draft picks in Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith.

But, if you listen to team president Billy King, the key to improvement this season is the lack of movement.

Rewind to 1999-2000. Philadelphia finished 49-33 and lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Sixers didn't make any earth-shattering moves that offseason and looked like they were stuck in neutral.

Instead, they roared out of the gates with a 10-0 record in 2000-01. In fact,the Sixers never needed to look in the rear view mirror until they messed with what was a winning chemistry and brought in the offensively-challenged Dikembe Mutombo to match up with Shaquille O'Neal.

The results? They still vanquished the Pacers and won the Eastern Conference championship before losing to O'Neal and the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Obviously you can't compare a team that finished 35-47 with that group but the principle en route to improvement stays the same. Much like an NFL offensive line, an NBA team gets better and better the more they play together.

And remember, this core group did finish 17-9 down the stretch last season.

"Our goal is to pick up from last year," said center Samuel Dalembert who is recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot suffered in the FIBA Americas tournament. "Just keep getting better."

More than anything, the drastic upturn last season was thanks to point guard Andre Miller, who's presence and playmaking ability elevated the games of Andre Iguodala, Dalembert, Kyle Korver, Willie Green, Rodney Carney, Lou Williams and Joe Smith.

Of that group, only Smith has relocated with Evans earmarked as his replacement. Will it work? Expectations aren't high with most preseason prognosticators picking the Sixers last in the division.

To silence the critics, Philadelphia must settle quickly on a replacement for Smith's interior defense, rebounding and leadership skills. Evans is a monster on the boards but is too short to be a top-tier defender on the blocks. Louis Amundson and Shavlik Randolph both bring a non-stop motor to the dance and Smith, standing 7-foot, has all the skills to be a big-time power forward but is probably two years away.

The Sixers must also choose a starter to compliment Iguodala on the wing. The best-case scenario there is last year's first round pick, Carney, although, Green's offensive skills and Young's raw athletic ability make them enticing options.

"I want to be a key contributor this season," Carney said. "I look at myself as a lock-down defender. I think I can be that other wing that can play defense and score when they need me too."

Meanwhile, the 21-year old Williams must step up from being a summer league star to a solid, dependable backup for Miller.

"Learning from guys like Andre Miller and Kevin Ollie has helped me," Williams said. "For them to take me under their wing is very important. I am counting on last year's team rolling over. We played well during that playoff run and hopefully we can keep that going. We basically stayed the same and need to show confidence and play together. It's chemistry,"

And there you have it...Chemistry...

You have to hang your hat on something.