Clippers fans feel betrayed right now, just like their counterparts across the bay in Oakland when the Clippers stole Baron Davis away. Elton Brand, the face of the Clipper franchise for the past 7-8 years has left LA for Philly. Clipper fans they never saw this one coming. First of all Brand was hurt for 74 games this year and he was expected to not opt out of his contract. However that all changed when Brand attended an NBA Finals game at the Staples Center. Brand became mesmerized by the Boston Celtics and how they embraced "team play." Brand decided to opt out of his contract but not to see how much money he'd command but for the Clippers to add another star to help Brand and hopefully he'd embrace the "team play." Brand even told the team he intended to re-sign with the club and for a short while it looked like Brand's dream would become a reality. On the first day of Free Agency negotiations, the Clippers reached a verbal agreement with Baron Davis, who like Brand opted out of his deal, to play alongside Brand. The Clipper nation became giddy at the thought of Baron Davis playing alongside Brand and having role guys like Cuttino Mobley, Chris Kaman, and Tim Thomas have bigger roles with young guns Al Thornton and Eric Gordon leading the future. However that all changed. The Warriors wanted to get back at the Clippers for taking away their star away, and offered Brand a 5-year deal worth about $90 million. Brand wasn't very interested in playing for Golden State, but their was one team lurking in the shadows waiting to pry him away from the Clippers. The Philadelphia 76ers had known Brand wanted to be there since April when he said he was interested in playing for Philly on a radio station. The '6ers one of the few teams who actually had cap room this summer were not huge players in the beginning and seemed more interested in Josh Smith of the Hawks then of Brand, but then things changed. Elton Brand became contacted with the Sixers, they wined and dined and pretty soon they had a contract offer. Meanwhile no one had a clue about this. Baron Davis and the rest of Clipper nation were waiting on Brand to take the Clipper offer of 5 years 74-81 million but Brand's agent stopped contacting the Clippers on July 3rd. Then Philly broke the ice and got Brand to agree to a 5-year $82 million contract, making Philly a perennial player in the East, and breaking the hearts of Clipper nation. However the Clipper fans should have seen this one coming. Back in 2003 Elton Brand was also a free agent and had he not have been a restricted free agent he would have been a member of the Miami Heat. Elton always wanted out of Clipper nation even though he never told anyone. What's worse is that know the Clippers might not even get Baron Davis. Davis's signing was basically a package deal and well now that Brand is in Philly, Davis could be looking elsewhere. The Clippers still have a boatload of money and are looking into pursuing RFA's such as Josh Smith of the Hawks and Emeka Okafor of the Bobcats. But make one thing clear, neither of them is Elton Brand. The Clipper nation had been brought back to respectability by Brand and brought back down by him too. But in the end, Brand didn't care about "team play." He just took the money and ran.
PROJECTED PHILADELPHIA 76ERS STARTING LINEUP
C: Samuel Dalembert
PF: Elton Brand
SF: Thaddeus Young
SG: Andre Igoudala* (RFA still not resigned)
PG: Andre Miller* (FA)
BENCH:
Reggie Evans
Willie Green
Jason Smith
Mareese Speights
Louis Williams* (RFA)
Projected LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS LINEUP
C: Chris Kaman
PF: Al Thornton or Emeka Okafor * (If signed from Bobcats)
SF: Josh Smith * (If signed from Hawks) or Al Thornton
SG: Cuttino Mobley
PG: Baron Davis * (If he stays true to his word)
Bench:
Tim Thomas
Josh Powell
Shaun Livingston *FA
Eric Gordon
Brevin Knight
DeAndre Jordan
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