Entries Tagged 'Sixers Rumors' ↓

Elton Brand agrees to go to the 76ers

Elton Brand has reached a verbal agreement to sign a multiyear contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to an NBA source who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on player movements. The deal is believed to be in the $80-million range and expected to span five years. - LA Times

Thanks Joe for posting this link in the comments!

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Monday night that the Philadelphia 76ers are again “actively involved” in the Brand hunt — and a very serious threat to tempt him away from L.A.

Sources say that the Sixers are growing increasingly confident in their ability to create additional salary-cap space by finding a new home via trade for swingman Rodney Carney and center Calvin Booth … and then make a sufficiently rich offer Brand would struggle to refuse. - ESPN.com

Basically Ed Stefanski and the Sixers are for real about improving this team now and will pull all the stops to get it done. Moving Calvin Booth and Rodney Carney without taking salary back (potentially to Memphis or Minnesota) would free up just under $3M on top of the $11-$12.5 in estimated cap space the 76ers already have. It appears they will use that money to first go after Elton Brand and I assume if that fails to pump up their offer to Josh Smith. If the Sixers can make the deal to gain additional cap space the Clippers should be pretty worried. That is, if Brand is really all about winning at this stage of his career. Remember this is an elite player who has only been in the post season one time.

Update: I think the deal to send Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth to Minnesota is pretty much done.

Does Elton Brand really want to win?

Let’s take a look at the potential rosters/situations of the teams involved to see which one gives Brand the best opportunity to compete for a championship.

Philadelphia 76ers

Starters: Samuel Dalembert / Elton Brand / Thaddeus Young / Andre Iguodala / Andre Miller

Top reserves: Louis Williams / Reggie Evans / Willie Green / Jason Smith / Marreese Speights

Subjective:

• Brand is from New York and coming to Philadelphia would bring him back East closer to his roots
• Playing in the weaker Eastern Conference from a competition standpoint gives him the best chance to compete for a championship
• Playing along side a defensive-minded center always tends to benefit scoring PFs like Brand
• Not a one-year wonder. With the young on this team and the addition of Brand the Sixers should only get better and be in contention for at least the next 3-4 years (if Andre Miller stays)
• Team up with his old point guard Andre Miller again
• With the addition of Brand the Sixers must get a perimeter shooter (Chris Quinn! We can offer him $1.91M for one or two years regardless of our cap situation using the Bi-Annual Exception.)
• I think it is safe to say with the addition of Brand and say Quinn as a back-up PG and shooter the Sixers are easily a 50+ win team ensuring a first round home playoff series. And depending on what other moves Detroit makes, could jump up to 2nd in the East.

Los Angeles Clippers

Starters: Chris Kaman / Elton Brand / Al Thorton / Cuttino Mobley / Baron Davis

Top reserves: Eric Gordon / Tim Thomas / Brevin Knight / DeAndre Jordan (to my knowledge they are the only players currently under contract or expected to be. The rest still need to be re-signed.)

Subjective:

• Brand is already the face of the Clippers franchise
• In L.A. he is close to the Hollywood life he enjoys as a movie producer
• He opted out released statements saying he wanted to return and that he would essentially take a pay cut in order for the Clippers to go out and bring in an impact player. Mentioning Baron Davis by name. Would he really go back on his words?
• The Clippers would be much improved, but I still think that roster is only good for bottom in the Western Conference fighting for a playoff spot depending on how Portland’s young group does next season. Are they a 55-win team?

Golden State Warriors

Starters: Andris Biedrins / Elton Brand / Al Harrington (he will absolutely demand a trade if G.S. were to find a pure PG and Harrington gets benched for Brand) / Stephen Jackson / Monta Ellis

Top reserves: Brandon Wright / Marco Belinelli / Anthony Randolph (lots of free agents, would Richard Hendrix even make this team if they added another PF in Brand?)

Subjective:

• Biggest pay day he could dream of at his age
• Still in California to support his movie career
• This team isn’t a playoff team to me

What it really comes down to for Brand

If he wants to win the Sixers are clearly the best option. If he wants to get paid while maintaining his Hollywood lifestyle, the Warriors are the choice. If he wants to remain the face of a franchise and stay loyal, the Clippers are the answer.

I don’t think Golden State should have a chance at Brand. There team wouldn’t be good enough. As a basketball player it should always be about winning and the money comes second. In the late stages of an elite players career money shouldn’t be the determining factor. Brand has money, he has been paid roughly $81 million dollars in basketball salary alone in his career. Never mind any endorsements.

If you are Elton Brand and David Falk (his agent) and you are looking at the teams courting him, is there any question which team gives Brand the best chance to win? Win now and for the life of his expected contract?

This is more than just Elton Brand for the Sixers and their fans

By making the move to free up cap space the Sixers puts added pressure on Atlanta as well. I don’t think they had or have any intention of matching “any” offer. They offered Josh Smith something like $45M at the beginning of the 2007 season which he turned down looking for a max or near max extension. Atlanta obviously wasn’t willing to bump their offer enough to satisfy Smith before the extension period ended to get a deal done. If you are an Atlanta fan why would you believe what that organization is spewing? Do you really think they are prepared match an offer of $65M or more? And I tend to give NBA people credit, and think they had to anticipate the number for Smith rising dramatically when he became a free agent. Why even let the guy get on the market if you were willing to pay that much?

Finally, isn’t this what we all have been waiting for? A GM knowledgeable, capable and savvy enough to change this franchise for the better. Not only that, it is clear Stefanski has the full backing from ownership to do whatever it takes. GO SIXERS!

The others on the Sixers’ radar, include Los Angeles Clippers’ unrestricted free agent Corey Maggette and two restricted free agents, Golden State’s Andris Biedrins and New Jersey’s Nenad Krstic. - Philly.com

Yet another name is now popping up on the Sixers free agent radar. I think this will continue to happen as the chances we land Elton Brand continue to die. As of right now the Sixers can’t completely blow Atlanta out of the market by offering Josh Smith a contract the Hawks can’t afford to match, which leaves all the cards still in Atlanta’s favor. Unless the Sixers can move a player to free up additional cap space or the 2008 NBA salary cap is larger than estimated, I just don’t think we are going to be able to land Josh Smith. Atlanta’s management has made so many promises and assurances to their fans that allowing a core player to leave would be disastrous for that franchise who are just turning the corner.

Because of that new players will be under consideration for the Sixers to improve the team even if they don’t land one of their top guys. Enter Nenad Krstic. A 7-foot center/power forward who was highly touted coming into the league. Before Krstic got hurt I think he was essentially on the path to become a similar player as Pau Gasol offensively. He used his height, quickness and soft touch to score around the basket with both hands. He has a nice jump hook and mid-range jumper as well which makes him very effective in pick-and-pop situations. He was progressing fairly rapidly and averaged 18ppg and 7.5rpg on 56% shooting against Shaq and Alonzo Mourning in 4 playoff games verse the Heat - as a rookie!

Then he tore his ACL, which stunted his growth and damaged his confidence. Last season he only played 45 games and wasn’t as effective as he once was.

The big question if the Sixers are really considering Krstic is can he return to form, continue his development and remain healthy?

The guy is only 24 (turning 25 later this month) and had/has a lot of potential. Looking at the market for PFs and centers Krstic might have the best low-post and overall offense game among free agents NOT named Elton Brand. The kicker - he wouldn’t cost the Sixers $11-$12 million per year like Josh Smith will. That gives Stefanski more options to continue to add pieces that fill holes and make this team better long-term.

It looks like the Nets are willing to let Krstic, who is a restricted free agent, go. They aren’t willing to give anyone big money for longer than 2 years so they are loaded for the LeBron James auction. They also have bunch of bigs with the addition of Yi and rookie Ryan Anderson. Any New Jersey natives or Nets followers that can add some insight about Nenad Krstic?

What do you guys think about the newest additional to the Sixers free agent list? If the price is right do you think he would be a solid free agent pick up?

An NBA source said the Sixers had made contact with unrestricted free agent Corey Maggette and hope to speak with him next week. - Philly.com

The question is why?

Because the competition in this year’s free agent market isn’t as weak as everyone expected. Going into July 1 it was the Memphis Grizzles and the Philadelphia 76ers with significant cap space to pursue the top free agents. With the recent developments in Golden State and with the Clippers, now there are 2 other teams involved. That means more competition to sign Josh Smith and more heat on the Sixers regarding their own restricted free agents, Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams.

Let’s consider Corey Maggette with the Sixers

There are a couple possible scenarios.

Possibility 1: The Sixers can’t steal Josh Smith away from Atlanta or convince Elton Brand to leave the Clippers. Therefore Corey Maggette would be signed as the major impact player of the summer. To me this is the most likely of the possible scenarios. Corey Maggette is clearly a big upgrade over our current starting shooting guard Willie Green. He adds a proven scorer to the lineup who can get the foul line and put pressure on opposing defenses. He also runs the floor well and fits with the Sixers’ current style of play. Maggette’s defense is pretty weak. It’s more about effort and the desire to lock up on defense rather than physical deficiencies. Who knows whether that will change if he got in the right environment, but I am not banking on it. Another thing to consider… the addition of Maggette will probably stunt the offensive growth of Thaddeus Young to some degree. We already complained about the lack of plays being called for Young; I don’t see how that gets any better when you add an offensive player such as Maggette. In this scenario how much better do you think Corey Maggette would make the Sixers?

Possibility 2: Once again the Sixers lose out on their top PF targets. But, so does Golden State and they make a HUGE offer to Andre Iguodala in the $14-15M+ per year range, and Stefanski and the Sixers don’t match. I see two outcomes here.

1. We lose Iguodala outright and sign Corey Maggette as his replacement.
2. We work out a sign and trade with Golden State for Iguodala involving Al Harrington who will soon be asking for a trade anyway. And then sign Corey Maggette as well. Now our starting line-up is A. Miller, Corey Maggette, Thaddeus Young, Al Harrington and Samuel Dalembert.

I think we all agree outcome 1 would suck! The Sixers will be worse off in my book. But what do you think of outcome 2? We get an upgrade at PF with Harrington and improve the shooting guard position with Maggette. But we also make room for Thaddeus Young to thrive by clearing the potential logjam at small forward. I hear a lot of Sixers fans calling for a sign and trade of Andre Iguodala. Well I just presented you with one. What do you think?

How do you guys feel about the prospect of Corey Maggette in a Sixers uniform. As well of the likelihood that it will actually happen?

Looks like the Sixers best power forward option might be Josh Smith.

“Some say Atlanta doesn’t want to go above $11 million per year to sign restricted free agent Josh Smith. If that’s the case, look for Smith to end up in Philadelphia.

The Sixers would love to get Elton Brand, but word is that he doesn’t want to take a pay cut from the $16 million-plus he’s due next season — except to go to Miami.

So with Brand pretty much out of the question, Philly will look at Smith and Antawn Jamison. The Sixers can start either one at $11 million with 8 percent annual increases.” - Chris Broussard’s Blog, ESPN

The top three power forward free agents the 76ers would consider, in order of importance, are Elton Brand, Josh Smith and Antawn Jamison. Among Sixers fans everyone wants Brand, and I am sure Ed Stefanski feels that way as well. But there have been mixed signals as to whether:

1. Elton Brand was going to opt out and leave over $16M on the table with the Clippers
2. Philadelphia was a destination Brand would be happy in
3. He would be willing to take a pay cut

Sixertown got excited when Elton Brand was on 950 ESPN with positive things to say about coming to Philadelphia. Since then everything I’ve read makes that outcome increasingly less likely. If he does make a move his first choice is Miami. And as much as I really believe Brand is focused on winning now, I don’t think he wants it at the expense of $4-5 million dollars in annual salary.

So that brings us full-circle to Josh Smith. At least on this blog there has been very little talk in the comment section about how Smith will fit with our team and if Sixers fans even want the guy. So here are few questions I have for you guys:

• Do you want Josh Smith? (I really do! I think we become one of, if not the, best defensive team in the Eastern Conference with the addition of Smith.)
• What is our projected starting line-up with Smith on the team?
• How does the potential addition of Smith alter, if at all, who the Sixers should/will draft? (Stefanski, at least in the media, has been hell bent on drafting a big man. And recently said “even if the team drafts a forward prospect, that doesn’t preclude signing a free agent at that position, too.”)

Consider this post a nice Sunday Conversation starter.

We’ve had tons of Sixers draft discussion on the blog lately, and people have been asking about insider information and rumors about whether or not the team will trade up or down in the draft. Here is a 76ers draft+trade rumor hot off the presses that should be of interest for you guys (and gals).

One trade that is making the rounds would involve the Knicks sending Zach Randolph and the rights to the #6 pick to Philadelphia for a smaller contract, such as Reggie Evans, and the rights to the #16 pick-after July 1st (when Philadelphia’s cap space kicks in). New York would move into position to have significant cap space in the summer of 2010 (possibly to make a run at LeBron James) by unloading the 17.3 million dollars owed to Randolph in 2010/11, and would still be able to keep David Lee around.

Philadelphia would fill a big void at power forward with a 20 point per game scorer in Zach Randolph, and possibly pick up one of Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo or Eric Gordon in the process, while only sacrificing the 8-9 million dollars they are expected to have in cap space, which likely wouldn’t get them very far anyway. - DraftExpress

This makes sense on the surface for the Sixers in a few ways.

1. We wouldn’t be able to move up that far in the draft without taking on something we don’t deem optimal (Zach Randolph). This is especially true since Isiah Thomas is no longer running the team, and we can’t expect the bone-head deals to continue now that Donnie Walsh is in charge for the Knicks.
2. I posted in early May that Maurice Cheek might have some interest in bringing Zach Randolph to the 76ers to fill our power forward need. He is a legit 20-point scorer and when motivated can get you 10 boards per night as well. Considering he also has a fairly decent mid-range jump shot he provide some versatility in pick-and-roll situations as well. Is he a DOPE and as Pete says a loser? Yeah probably. But that doesn’t mean we should completely ignore what he can provide this team in areas of need.
3. We weren’t going to get an impact player at #16, Stefanski has already said this. But at #6 that is a different story. We then would be in position to draft any number of players who can come in and contribute immediately (Eric Gordon will be there and maybe even Mayo if the top 5 teams are idiots - DraftExpress already has him falling to 6 for no real reason at all).
4. We keep the core and chemistry of this team intact. That is if you even like our current core players, which many Sixers fans on the Philly.com forums have expressed that they do not. (Lots of blow-the-team-up talk going on over there)

I am purposely taking the side of making this deal happen if it becomes more real because I know most people hate the idea of Zach Randolph in a 76er jersey (Me). So feel free to play devil’s advocate (Sixerzguy).

Do you like that idea? Is the best move the Sixers can make to improve the team now and for the future? Who would you take at #6 if this deal went down? Lots to talk about - have at it.

P.S.

If you look at the next paragraph in that link you will see the Sixers mentioned as a possible team moving up to grab Memphis’ #5 pick. None of the top players want to play there and are refusing workouts. Why would they? The GM gave away a top 5 NBA center in his prime and the owner seems to be pretty clueless about the whole situation!

Huh!, you say. Well according to Peter Vescy Cheeks and Randolph didn’t have the horrible relationship it was made out to be in Portland. And if that is the case Randolph does kind of, sort of fill the low post scoring need for the Sixers.

“If Cheeks stays put, look for him to pester Philly’s president to acquire Zach Randolph Zach Randolph , who has the goods to provide everything the ahead-of-schedule Sixers are offensively lacking in the low docks. Contrary to common belief, Cheeks and Randolph had great respect for each other in Portland.” - New York Post

But I hate the idea of bringing this clown to Philly. Why? Take a look at this video Pete showed me and ask yourself do you want to watch that for 82+ games?

We don’t need that kind of nonsense in Philly, do we?

Two league insiders prophesy a move to land Bulls restricted free agent Ben Gordon, an undersized shooting guard who could share the backcourt with big point guard Andre Miller. - SI.com

Hmm. I don’t like that idea even a little bit. I am a die hard Allen Iverson fan. Since Billy King traded away by far the best little man scorer in the history of the game, I am 100% opposed to bringing in another, lesser player of the same cloth as AI.

What do you guys think?

Now fully entrenched on the new and improved Recliner GM I plan on adding a new segment called “76ers Rumors.” I will regularly scour the web for any and every bit of 76er-related rumors and post them all on the blog. Now you can get all your Sixers hearsay in one place, let me do the work. ; )

The first installment involves the beloved Billy King. We all love BK, right? Well another Eastern Conference team seems to have interest in the former 76er GM. The Milwaukee Bucks have contacted some big wigs in the Philadelphia 76ers’ organization regarding King. Not sure whether he was or is planning to be interviewed, but they are definitely doing some preliminary background checks.

Billy King’s name has been floated around the New York Knicks as well, with Donnie Walsh taking over. King is good friends with Walsh, and the way the NBA works it wouldn’t be surprising if BK ended up with a front office position with the Knicks.

Consider this

We have lived through the horrid Billy King years. From his overpaying Kenny Thomas to the unthinkable signing of Chris Webber. Put yourself in the shoes of a Sixers’ executive who had a part in firing of Billy King. We assume he was let go because of unmet performance expectations as well as the opportunity to snatch up a perceived better option going forward in Ed Stefanski.

What do you say to the Bucks when they call you? Do you support the notion that Billy King is a viable option at GM for another club?

Philly fans, please be “less” biased then me and set aside the idea that vouching for King would almost certainly sabotage the future of a Conference opponent!

Source: The Journal Times