76ers Make The Biggest Splash With Brand Move

Elton Brand changed teams, changed coasts and seemingly changed the fortunes of two franchises yesterday, returning to relevance one of the NBA's legendary franchises while sending one of the league's perennial laughingstocks back to punch-line status.

Brand spurned his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, to sign a five-year, $82-million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, and a possible restructuring of the Eastern Conference hierarchy began in earnest.

With the league moratorium on trades and free agent signings finally lifted, the Toronto Raptors consummated a trade with the Indiana Pacers for center Jermaine O'Neal and also signed point guard José Calderón. The New Orleans Hornets officially signed first-team all-NBA point guard Chris Paul to a contract extension worth $68 million over four years, and the Milwaukee Bucks signed Andrew Bogut, the 2005 No. 1 overall pick, to a five-year, $72.5 million extension.

But no team made a bigger move than the 76ers, who addressed their need for a quality power forward with the startling signing of Brand, a two-time all-star who has averaged 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds in the nine seasons since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 1999. He is one of four active players who average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett -- who have combined to win nine of the past 10 championships -- are the others.

"This is the prototype power forward," 76ers General Manager Ed Stefanski said during a news conference in Philadelphia. "He does all the right things and he will be a great asset, not only on the floor, which obviously is important to us, but to the community of Philadelphia. We have inherited a really good guy."

Brand is the most significant defection of a free agent in his prime since Steve Nash left Dallas to join Phoenix in 2004. A native of Peekskill, N.Y., who played college ball at Duke, Brand said that he was intrigued by the idea of returning to the East Coast and was impressed by the Sixers as they made a surprising run to the playoffs last season, pushing the Detroit Pistons to six games in the first round.

"It's the players here, the organization here, the tradition here, that influenced me to come here," Brand said. "I won't let anybody down."

While Philadelphia celebrated acquiring its first big star since Allen Iverson was traded in 2006, Los Angeles was devastated as the Clippers' visions of a Brand-Baron Davis union exploded in a matter a days.

Brand's agent, David Falk, said his client opted out of a $16.4 million contract to give the Clippers the financial flexibility to sign the players needed to make the franchise competitive. The Clippers quickly got Davis to agree to a five-year, $65 million contract and expected Brand to re-sign -- until Golden State offered Brand $90 million over five years and the 76ers traded Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth and a future first-round draft pick to Minnesota to create the cap space necessary to sign him. Brand agreed to sign with Philadelphia on Tuesday, then Corey Maggette left the Clippers to sign a five-year, $50 million deal with Golden State, leaving the Clippers with Davis, money to burn and likely another round of rebuilding.

Brand and Falk both said they were left with no choice but to leave after they were given an "ultimatum" to accept the Clippers' initial offer or find something else.

"My intention was to try to work out something with the Clippers. That was the idea. That was the goal," said Brand, who signed an offer sheet with the Miami Heat as a restricted free agent in 2003 but returned when the Clippers matched the deal. "There was no underground handshake between Baron Davis and myself. That is totally not true."

In other moves, the Pacers reworked their roster after two lottery seasons and used O'Neal to bring in point guard T.J. Ford and centers Rasho Nesterovic and Roy Hibbert from Toronto. They later added Brandon Rush and Jarrett Jack from Portland for Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu. The Heat signed shooting guard James Jones to a five-year contract, and Beno Udrih signed a five-year deal with Sacramento.