By CELESTE E. WHITTAKER
(Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA - The Eric Snow Era has come to an end in Philadelphia.

Snow, who played six seasons for the 76ers and helped lead them to the NBA Finals in 2001, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in a deal for forward Kedrick Brown and guard Kevin Ollie, a former Sixer.

The move paves the way for talented second-year guard Willie Green to likely make his way into the starting lineup for the 2004-05 season, alongside star guard Allen Iverson in the backcourt.

A possible starting lineup for the Sixers could feature Iverson at the point, Green at shooting guard (or vice versa at times), Glenn Robinson at small forward, Kenny Thomas at power forward and Samuel Dalembert at center. Green averaged a team-high 19.3 points, shooting 40 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range, in the Sixers' recent summer league play.

Snow is entering his 10th season. He played in all 82 games for the second straight year last season.

He was acquired from Seattle in January of 1998 and blossomed playing for former Sixers coach Larry Brown, but didn't seem to quite fit into the plans of current Philadelphia coach Jim O'Brien, who wants to play more of an uptempo style. O'Brien also values 3-point shooting, which is not Snow's forte. He was just 2-for-18 from 3-point range last season.

O'Brien said he envisioned Green having a much larger role in the upcoming season, and if the Sixers had the opportunity to make a move that was smart financially and would get them some solid players back, it would make sense to do so. He knew Snow wouldn't have been happy competing for a starting role.

"I think a move like this is in everybody's best interest," said O'Brien, who still doesn't think the Sixers have enough shooters. "... I have a great deal of respect for Eric, I think he's a wonderful leader. I think he's been very successful in his time in Philadelphia. I think he's of great character and a competitor.

"I believe I would prefer as many perimeter players as I possibly can to be able to shoot the deep ball."

That wasn't Snow.

"I want to start by thanking Eric as I did in a phone call with him," said Billy King, the Sixers' president and general manager, who doesn't foresee just one player running the fastbreak. "He had a great run here with us, he provided some great leadership. But I think it was time for a change. I think he agreed. That's why we made this move, for now as well as down the road in the future.

" ... I think the way Jim does want to play and I think a lot of (how) Willie played last season and played this summer, Willie deserved minutes and Willie's got to play. Watching Willie this summer and watching him last year at the end of the season, I had veteran guys, Eric included, that were saying, 'This guy's going to be good. He's got to get some minutes.' "

It also puts Snow in a position where he will at times be playing alongside reigning NBA rookie of the year LeBron James in Cleveland, which is also not far from Snow's hometown of Canton, Ohio.

"This was a great chance to add veteran leadership to our team," Cavs general manager Jim Paxson said in a statement. "Specifically, Eric brings depth to our backcourt, a strong defensive presence and great consistency on the offensive end.

Kedrick Brown, who was drafted 11th overall by Boston in 2001, is a 6-foot-7, 222-pound forward.

"Kedrick is a big-time leaper and can also defend at a very high level," O'Brien said.

Ollie, 31, meanwhile, is a familiar face who played for the Sixers in 2000-01, the year they went to the Finals. The 6-2, 195-pound guard has played for 10 NBA teams.

Snow, 31, signed a four-year contract extension at the beginning of last season and is owed about $30.5 million over the next five seasons, including $4.9 million next season. Ollie is owed just $12.2 million over the next four seasons and Brown will make $2.3 million in 2004-05, the final year of his current contract.

"The money factor was a part of it, but it wasn't the main part," said King.