Elton Brand to the Sixers, Maggette to the Warriors
By Andrew Kamenetzky | The Mind of AK, Los Angeles ClippersAnd the Clippers, in all likelihood, to the toilet.
The LA Times and ESPN are reporting that Elton Brand and Corey Maggette have both reached deals with new teams, the latter situation being no surprise (the Clippers renounced his rights in order make room to resign Brand), the former something as a shock to the system (like I said, the Clippers renounced Maggette’s rights - not to mentioned came to terms with Baron Davis - in order to resign Brand).
Oh well, there’s always Tim Thomas to fall back on in a pinch.
I’ll have more thoughts on this when I get a minute, but to hit the high points, I see a bad moon rising for these Clippers in a big way. They’d have been much better off, in my opinion, losing both guys and making their way without a boatload of cap space than committed long term to BD sans Brand.
AK
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You have got to believe that Baron Davis is driving or flying or doing whatever he needs to do to get where EB is right now. I cannot imagine that he would ever have signed with the Clippers if he thought there was any chance of Brand leaving.
To a degree, it does seem a bit crazy to me that Brand would leave LA. I like the Sixers and they’re an exciting young team with some real upside, but Brand has played on similar teams here in Los Angeles before. Baron Davis is a much more talented player than anyone on Philadephia’s roster, and gives Brand his best chance to win that he’s had in virtually his entire career.
Can’t help but wonder if this is just A-level posturing designed to eke a little more $ out of the Clips.
If the report is true, remember ESPN at one time reported Kobe had played his last game in purple and gold, the Clippers cannot panic and over pay for someone else. However, wouldn’t Emeka Okafor fill the void in a poor man’s sort of way?
David Neiman,
Philly has no more cap space, so I’d find it hard to believe that Baron Davis would go there. I don’t even think they can do a sign and trade -say Davis for Andre Miller and Igudola- because Davis is signing a new contract with the Clips, so he can’t be moved for 6 months, I believe.
Davis, clearly, was mistaken to leave GS. Sure, there’s the draw of playing at home - although, even on those terms, he must have some serious regrets. He had his foot in Hollywood’s door just fine anyway -spending summer’s in LA and getting movie’s made, plus was a star in NoCal. Now he’s on LA’s laughing stock franchise, destined for horrible seasons, and has lost the love he would have gotten forever in SF and Oakland…He would, obviously, been better off staying where he was.
I guess, in theory, he could re-neg on his commitment to the Clippers, but who knows if the Warriors would even want him back. The only other place he could go for anything close to 65 million is Memphis, which obviously won’t happen (although, now, it seems that anything is possible.)
The Clippers are screwed, horribly - one of the worst Free Agent disses I’ve ever heard of, this is.
I mean they were thisclose to being, if not a contender, an incredibly dynamic team, that would have been exciting and fun to watch.
But Brand wanted to go to Philly - what a kick in the gut.
If I were the Clippers, I’d avoid trying to make up for this disaster with impetuous signings for semi-decent replacements (ala Emeka Okafor), and keep my cap space large for 2010.
Remember, Lebron is a free agent then, and New York is not the only big market.
You got to still have hope, I guess.
Daniel- I agree with you about spending on semi-decent replacements. But Lebron and Co. would likely just use the Clippers as leverage to get big deals in places they really wanted to play. You said, “what a kick in the gut.” Seriously. I’ve felt like puking since about 6:00 this evening.
Daniel,
I wasn’t suggesting that Baron Davis was going to be signed by Philadelphia. I was suggesting that Davis was trying to track EB down so he could change his mind and get Brand to stay with the Clips.
DN