future sixer EB?

emptythebench.com

As Marc Stein of ESPN reported yesterday the Sixers have interest in adding free-agent forward Elton Brand to their roster. That much isn’t a surprise; Brand has career averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.  At 29 he’s in the prime of his career and he’s already been a member of two all star teams.  What is a surprise is that the Sixers seem to think that they have a real shot at him.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports, the Sixers just made a move that only makes sense if they’re also bringing in the big man from Duke.

Philadelphia 76ers forwards Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth and a future No. 1 pick have been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to free as much as $2 million in additional salary cap space for the Sixers to offer Elton Brand or Josh Smith, multiple league sources said.

Minnesota sends Philadelphia its $2.8 million trade exception from a 2007 deal of Mark Blount to the Miami Heat.

I feel two ways about this trade:

• First, Ed Stefanski better know what he’s doing.  A future first is often more valuable than a trade exception (although if it is the Utah’s pick that is included that point is probably wrong) and I am one of the few who has not yet given up on Carney.  A team built on hoarding assets should not be giving them away.  If all this means is that the 76ers are going to overpay Josh Smith I’m not going to happy.
• On the other hand, Brand is not only the best free agent available this year, but unless Utah’s stars (Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer) opt out, Brand would be better than anyone the Sixers could throw their money at next year as well.  Further, Brand does fit into the 76er system.  He’s competently athletic, an excellent defender, and unlike Dalembert he gets his blocks on his man, which means that he’s always in good position on the boards.  Plus he can score in the halfcourt set, which is more than you can say about any of the current Sixers.  If his surgically-repaired knee holds up (never good words to have to say) EB would move the Sixers up an entire notch and give them a powerful nucleus to build around.

Brand grew up in upstate New York, which is a lot closer to Philly than it is to LA, if he’s interested in coming home. It should be fun to see how this one plays out.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 11:32 am and is filed under Sixers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.