Brand New

It’s official. After seven years, the Philadelphia 76ers are once again a force to be recognized. The words, “Elton Brand” will flood the streets of Philadelphia for the rest of this summer until tip-off, when the packed Wachovia Center will be speechless until Brand nets his first bucket as a Sixer. This is it. The Sixers front office and Ed Stefanski strike gold in a move to force the organization to shine a light on what was once a poorly faithful bunch of ballers. After the departure of Philadelphia’s complete heart, Allen Iverson, the Sixers bring home a prime superstar ball player in Elton Brand.

Elton Brand is the forgotten superstar, more so, one of the most slept-on 20-10 guys the League has. Elton Brand’s exposure has been stabbed with his humble personality along with his dreary team, the Clippers. The 2-time All Star finally helped make some noise for the Clippers back in the 2006 playoffs, when they were one win away from advancing to the Conference Finals. Even after that, Brand was dealt the respect and attention he well deserved after many seasons. His NBA career began during Chicago’s rebuilding era. The 98-99 Bulls were then a team struggling to find wins with a record of 13-37 during NBA’s lockout season.

The horrible record landed Chicago the number one draft pick in the 1999 Draft, where they picked Brand. Brand quickly averaged 20.1 points per game, 10 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game in 80 games as a rookie, earning himself the Co-Rookie of the Year award. Playing alongside aging players such as Toni Kukoc, Hersey Hawkins, Randy Brown and a 20-year-old Ron Artest, the Bulls stunk a 17-65 record. The following season brought forth the same results, a 15-67 record with Brand freakishly averaging the same amount of points, blocks and rebounds while bringing his assists per game up from 1.9 to 3.2. Elton was then traded to the Clippers in 2001 for Brian Skinner and Tyson Chandler. His arrival in the L.A. Clippers was apprehended as one of the three fan-favorite baller trio’s consisting of Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. The Clippers blossomed with quality players to accompany Brand such as Corey Maggette, Andre Miller and Lamar Odom but the groups never stirred together to form as a playoff contender. While averaging impressive stats, Brand was cursed with overwhelmingly mediocure seasons with the Clippers for five seasons. In 2006, after the Clippers got eliminated from the playoffs after a valiant effort, Brand was set to take his team farther the following season, but failed to do so after missing the playoffs. Elton Brand’s 07-08 season became a disappointment for the power forward, after he suffered a critical Achilles injury he was sidelined for a total of 74 games. Brand showed great signs of recovery for the Clippers late in the season and played solid in a few games to give Clippers fans a positive energy for the following season if he came back the following season. The word “if” stemmed from the fact that Brand was to become an unrestricted free agent in the off season, allowing him to opt out of his contact with the Clippers. The front office for the Clippers made the big moves to attract Brand to come back, drafting shining rookies, Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan. Clips weren’t done yet, to promise a bigger chance at being a true contender in the West, the Clippers signed Baron Davis, making it nearly impossible for Elton Brand to turn down his future with the L.A. Clippers.

But impossible is a word that is stretched and bent in the world of sports. Tuesday afternoon when the word came in that Philadelphia has traded away a young Rodney Carney, along with Calvin Booth and a draft pick to Minnesota for a draft pick and most importantly, some cap room, it was apparent that Philadelphia had Brand in its cross hairs. But nothing was assuring until Brand accepted the 5-year deal, worth 82 million, leaving the Clippers with their jaws dropped.

There will be plenty of new Sixers fans, haters, predictions and wonders now that Brand is in the Sixers’ front line. His presence was something the team of Philadelphia fell absent to for many years, with many years being the Charles Barkley years (Sorry, Coleman and Mutombo don’t count). Guards, excluding the Bryant and LeBron tier, will think twice about taking the ball into Philly’s big men. The move sits Reggie Evans back in the bench, where he belongs. Evan’s spark off the bench, along with Lou Williams’ scoring will give Cheeks the comfort to flex his minutes. We also can’t forget the young rookie, Marreese Speights a 6′10”, 250 pound low-post banger. Philadelphia’s starting line-up looks relatively talented as it may be, Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert. The Sixers are finally a legit playoff contender for a set of years to come. They could easily become a title contender with another move or two done by the Sixers’ front office, but that’s to be seen.

Philadelphia’s chase for Atlanta’s Josh Smith will regretfully be dimmed due to this big move. It’s not good to count anything out yet, but only to be realistic. Josh Smith’s explosiveness will be the biggest thing missed by Philadelphia that the young power forward offered. With Elton Brand, the Sixers have a better power forward who has his own set of moves down low, a good rebound sense and who owns a much better jump shot. Brand is an undersized power forward that uses his wide body to become one of the best rebounders, he has great defensive play that produces blocks and a variety of contested shots for his opponent. Elton has easily become a 20 and 10 player for many seasons, in Philadelphia it will only expand. Brand will share his ground with Samuel Dalembert, who has a complete opposite make-up, being lengthy and slim but who’s also become a fiend for boards and blocks in this league. When it comes to the post-season, Philadelphia saw their star Iguoodala struggle when they needed him the most. They will now have another player to turn to with Brand when the big games come around, Brand put up 25 ppg., 10rpg. and 4 apg.

The city of Philadelphia and all its fans now have another reason to cheer for their 76ers this season. Being blessed with talented, humble players that are on the team to get the job done and get back into the NBA Finals after being carried there five years ago by a lonesome killer. The Sixers have an ultimate mix of youth and veterans in their line-up for the set of years to come. The Brand deal put the final stamp on the reality that their Allen Iverson is really gone. The Sixers have one of the four active players that average 20 and 10 in the league. Brand will face all the lights in his first year in Philadelphia, the Sixers have a tendency to bring home a big name during their downward spiral of their career, from Glenn Robinson to Chris Webber. Brand is still just 29 and has plenty left in his tank to pour some glory for Philadelphia before it’s too late. This is the breaking point for Brand, when it comes to being recognized as a reliable leader, with the ultimate help from another pioneer with former teammate Andre Miller, Brand and the Sixers could take the East by storm if Stefanski continues to play the cards right.

The fastbreak finishes by Iguodala, defense by Dalembert and Brand and the zip passes by Miller could be the complete remedy Philadelphia needs to make them a higher seed in the playoffs after being 7th last season. Betting on another move by Stefanski can be classified as an act of selfishness. But it’s completely understandable with Willie Green filling the starting two guard spot. GM, Ed Stefanski has proved to be one of the smarter managers the city of Philadelphia heavily needed and we are beginning to see why. It only to wonder what would’ve Stefanski would’ve done before Billy King lost his mind and threw away Iverson. But that’s the past, the future is labeled “Brand New” with the trio of Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller leading the Philadelphia 76ers’ circuit.