So I Lied

I know I said I wasn't posting again today, but I think this calls for something:

Brand will undergo season-ending surgery Monday on the shoulder he dislocated on Dec. 17 against Milwaukee. The team’s prized free-agent signee returned last week but clearly has not been 100 percent. He averaged just 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 18 minutes in six games after missing the previous 16 games.

Yeah, great freakin investment. All summer long, I urged the Sixers to go after Josh Smith, not Elton Brand, knowing full well Smith was a restricted free agent and the Hawks could match. But I knew Smith was a better fit with his style, plus, even if the Sixers didn't land him, they could make a run next offseason with a ton of cap space.



The athletic, versatile, running Smith meshed with the Sixers' play so well. It would have been a perfect fit. When they instead signed Brand, I understood why but was underwhelmed.

Now, hindsight is always 20/20, but when you really look at it, I have to ask myself again why they chose to go after Brand. He was coming off an incredibly serious injury. He's no spring chicken. His style seemed to be the opposite of the team's philosophy. And he's never made a team better. Ever.



Don't believe me? Here's the records of Brand's NBA teams over the years:

• 99-00 Bulls 17-65
• 00-01 Bulls 15-67
• 01-02 Clippers 39-43
• 02-03 Clippers 27-55
• 03-04 Clippers 28-54
• 04-05 Clippers 37-45
• 05-06 Clippers 47-35
• 06-07 Clippers 40-42
• 07-08 Clippers 23-59

That's a combined record of 273-465, a .370 winning percentage. For the sake of argument and fairness, we can discount last season in which Brand was hurt for basically the entire year. Still, teams with a healthy Elton Brand, before this season, have gone 250-406, a .381 winning percentage. He's finished above .500 once in his career. And this year, the Sixers sucked donkey balls when he was healthy and on the floor. What I'm trying to say is, Elton Brand is a loser.

Maybe that's unfair. After all, he was on some pretty bad teams. But look at those numbers. He really didn't make them a whole lot better, did he? Sure, the 05-06 season was a good one for the Clippers, and finishing two games under .500 in the West in 06-07 isn't terrible, but it isn't good either.

It's abundantly clear that the Sixers played better without him this season. It's just a fact. With Brand, the Sixers were well under .500 and looked awful. Without him, they've competed with some of the best teams in the league and risen to the playoff race. And now, the Sixers have $82 $80 million worth of suits to look at on the bench the rest of the year.



The question is, what now? What if the Sixers go on and play well the rest of the year, make the playoffs, even make a strong showing the postseason? What of Brand then? Ed Stefanski was getting high marks, as well he should have been, but this is turning into nothing but one big mistake … and really, it's something you could see coming if you looked close enough.

Sure, the 20 and 10 looks nice on paper, but as we've seen time and time again, paper doesn't win on the court.

Elton Brand is proving once again, Duke sucks:



Seriously, I want Josh Smith.