The Re-Return of Elton Brand

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

In a move that no one outside the organization saw coming or even speculated upon, word came Wednesday afternoon that the Philadelphia 76ers will be pulling out the Ol’ School Chevy for one final (?) ride.

Free agent Elton Brand has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, league source tells @TheVertical.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 7, 2016

Now entering what will be his 18th NBA season, Brand was essentially brought out of retirement last January to offer veteran leadership to a young Sixers squad clearly in need of someone to be an adult inside the locker room. After sitting out two months to work himself back into game shape, Brand saw some significant playing time down the stretch with the Sixers frontcourt beset by injuries. In all, Brand appeared in 17 games, averaging 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in just over 13 minutes per contest, highlighted by a 13 point, 11 rebound performance against Charlotte.

As much as I love Brand for both the class-act he is off the court and the effort he displays on it (I love watching Elton perform the long-lost art of actually making contact with a man when setting a screen), it probably wasn’t the best move for the franchise to sign him last season. By bringing Brand aboard, the Sixers lost the rights to Christian Wood on a cheap deal for years to come. Wood subsequently had an excellent summer league and signed with Charlotte for the upcoming season.

While Wood may amount to nothing more than an end-of-the-bench type guy, it’s also possible the Sixers lost out on a useful young player simply to have Brand teach guys like Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor how to be a professional. Now, they’re doubling down on that gamble for another season, and even moreso than last season, the Sixers do not have roster spots with which to play around.

The Sixers already have 12 guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season, with guys on non-guaranteed deals like Robert Covington, Jerami Grant, and T.J. McConnell expected to round out the roster. Setting aside a spot on the 15-man roster for Brand to wear a suit and impart wisdom in the locker room means somebody like McConnell, Nik Stauskas, Hollis Thompson, or Richaun Holmes has to go. Now, getting rid of one of those guys may not come back to bite to Sixers, but it seems like a pointless risk to take when they already signed Gerald Henderson, Jerryd Bayless, and Sergio Rodriguez to serve as the team’s veteran leaders.

It’s been reported that Brand’s deal is non-guaranteed, so maybe he will stick around for training camp, decide he truly has nothing left in the tank, and accept a coaching position with the team. If he’s on the final 15 at the expense of seeing one more year from one of the young guys though, this move feels like the first significant mistake of the Bryan Colangelo era.