"It was all good just a week ago". That's what the Clippers will be saying to themselves when it actually sinks in that they let Elton Brand get away. Unless you've been under a rock, the Philadelphia 76ers have essentially won free agency by acquiring the power-forward Elton Brand. Everybody can pack up and go home now. The reason I say this is because this is the one true impact player on the market who instantly can make a team go from bad to good or good to contender. Understand anytime you can acquire a player that has a career average of 20ppg and 10 rebounds it definitely changes things. We're talking about a player one of only 4 players in this league with these type of career numbers, KG, Shaq and TIm Duncan are the other 3.
Stuck in a hoops waste-land called Clipperville, Brands basketball skills have been rotting away for the past 7 seasons which is why he isn't seen in the same light as the other 3. It was assumed that Brand flaked-out on the Clippers and pulled a stunt on Baron Davis by signing with the Clippers. Come to find out the Clippers made their own bed by telling David Falk who is Brands agent that they would only make one offer to Brand and if he doesn't accept it they'd be as happy with that decision as they would be if he did accept it. Of course that didn't sit well with Brand who felt disrespected and turned his attention to Philly and Golden State. Brand told Comcastsports Net that Davis actually advised him to do what he had to do and take the 90 million that the Warriors offered him. So much for backstabbing.
It's easy to see why Brand took less money and chose the Sixers over the Warriors. The Sixers have a nice young core group yet to reach it's full potential, while the Warriors have head-case Stephen Jackson and recently acquired serial jacker Corey Maggette.
The Sixers made the playoffs last year and actually challenged Detroit early on and they had absolutely no inside presence or go-to guy. Add Brand to the squad and Iggy should be better because he was never a true number 1 to begin with, Andre Millers job is easier and the up and coming young beast in Lou Williams and Thad Young will have more room to operate. The no lay up rule should be in full effect in Philly with Brand holding down the paint with Sammy D and both average near 3 blocks a game. They still are a shooter or two away, before they could really present a problem to Boston. Other than the Celtics, the Sixers have to like their chances against the rest of the East especially with Detroit seemingly on their way down, no one else should scare them. With Brand, Thaddeus Young doesn't have to worry about playing power-forward, he can just play his natural position at small forward and just 'go hard. The million dollar question is do they sign and trade Dre Iguodala for a true 2-guard or do they just hope Iggy develops a better jay? Besides the obvious 2-guards there's only a couple of them that i'd trade Iguodala for, but that's just my opinion. Hard questions and no easy answers for Sixers management. What we do know is that the Sixers are better than they were yesterday and the Clippers are... just the Clippers.
Clippers
Everyone loves the lakers anyway
The Clippers are the biggest losers of the NBA each and every year. Just when it looked like they would actually put together a serious contender, Brand bolts to Philly. You really can't fault Elton, as he knew it would be alot easier for Philly to do what Boston did in the East, than battle and win 50 games and be a 8 seed out West.