It's time to start talking S&T with the Sixers.

[mrhonline]

They're not getting Elton Brand for less money than the W's are offering. It's not happening.

That means that the Sixers are getting ready to offer the max or near-max to Josh Smith. IOW, they're "Kenyon Martining" the Hawks. (We're being "Joe Johnsoned" before).

5 years, $80M+ is simply TOO much for Smith. It's time to start talking S&T, if you ask me.

[Admin]

It suddenly appears that the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Clippers re-signing franchise forward Elton Brand can be found far east of Oakland.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Monday night that the Philadelphia 76ers are again "actively involved" in the Brand hunt -- and a very serious threat to tempt him away from L.A. -- after initially fearing that they couldn't compete financially with the Clippers and Golden State Warriors.

In the face of a longstanding leaguewide consensus that Brand would return to Hollywood to form a new partnership with Clipper-to-be Baron Davis, sources say that the Sixers are growing increasingly confident in their ability to create additional salary-cap space by finding a new home via trade for swingman Rodney Carney and center Calvin Booth ... and then make a sufficiently rich offer Brand would struggle to refuse.

Dealing away Carney and Booth -- with Minnesota and Memphis quickly emerging as possible destinations -- would shed nearly $3 million from the Sixers' payroll next season as long as the trade doesn't require new GM Ed Stefanski to take any salary back.

Multiple front-office sources said late Monday that the Sixers are closing in on a deal with the Timberwolves in which the Wolves would absorb the contracts of both Carney and Booth with a $5.2 million trade exception created by Minnesota's trade of Mark Blount to Miami last October. It was not immediately known what financial and/or draft considerations might be included in the trade from either side.

The Sixers are already expecting to have at least $11 million in salary-cap space to spend when the league announces next season's cap figure to all 30 teams Tuesday night. Depending on how closely the cap ceiling for the 2008-09 season comes to the widely projected estimate of $58-to-59 million -- and if the Sixers can finalize a trade to part with Carney and Booth -- it's conceivable that Philadelphia could possess the financial flexibility to start a five-year offer to Brand at a first-year salary in the $15 million range.

With much of the league's other significant free-agent business seemingly on hold while the Brand saga plays out, sources maintain that the Sixers also remain highly interested in Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith. Yet it appears that Philadelphia will give itself every opportunity to emerge as the unlikely winner of the Brand sweepstakes before deciding whether to sign Smith to an offer sheet that the Hawks would have seven days to match.

If Philadelphia can indeed manufacture a first-year salary of at least $15 million, that could exceed what can be offered by the Clippers, who must balance their obvious No. 1 priority -- retaining Brand -- with the cap space they'll need to formally sign Davis to the five-year, $65 million deal which the former Golden State point guard verbally agreed to last week.

It's possible that the Warriors, depending on where the cap is set, could still outbid both L.A. and Philadelphia for Brand thanks to Davis' defection. If next season's salary cap is announced at $59 million or thereabouts, as expected, Golden State should have the wherewithal to offer Brand a five-year deal worth just over $95 million.

Sources close to the process told ESPN.com on Monday that the Warriors continue to have dialogue with the Brand camp and have not abandoned hope of luring the 29-year-old to Northern California.

Yet separate sources suggested Monday that Brand -- if he's ultimately drawn away from his Face of the Franchise status with the Clippers -- would be more inclined to jump to Philadelphia than to Golden State, given the Sixers' residence in a conference with far fewer contenders than the West and the opportunity to join an emerging Philly nucleus (Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young and the considerable wingspan of center Samuel Dalembert) that won many admirers as last season progressed.

It's believed that the Clippers can still assemble a five-year offer to Brand worth $80-to-85 million and give Davis his estimated $65 million over five years by simply renouncing their rights to free agents Corey Maggette and Shaun Livingston, renouncing several other free agents with modest salaries (Quinton Ross, Nick Fazekas, Marcus Williams, Paul Davis, Dan Dickau, Boniface N'Dong, James Singleton and Smush Parker) and perhaps waiving forward Josh Powell.

The Clippers also have the ability, as ESPN.com reported Monday, to put Brand on a very short list with Staples Center co-tenant Kobe Bryant as the only players in the league with an active no-trade clause in their contract. To be eligible for a no-trade clause in the NBA, a player must have at least eight seasons of service time, including four with his current team, and must be entering into a new contract as opposed to merely extending a previous contract.

Provided that Clippers owner Donald Sterling does all he can financially to keep the two-time All-Star, it is bound to be recorded as one of the bigger free-agent surprises in recent memory should Brand elect to leave behind his well-chronicled love of Hollywood and one-of-a-kind pride in being a Clipper to head back to the Eastern Conference for the first time since the Chicago Bulls traded him to the Clippers on draft night in 2001.

That's largely because Brand and agent David Falk, in announcing Brand's unexpected decision to opt out of the final season of his previous contract to become an unrestricted free agent, explained the forfeiture of next season's $16.4 million by saying that they hoped to give L.A. more payroll flexibility to strengthen the team around Brand.

Brand told ESPN.com on June 30 that his "intention is to stay" with the Clippers, while Falk spoke optimistically of Brand signing a deal to "finish his career with the Clippers" if the team could make another significant personnel acquisition or two. On the first day of free agency, in what easily ranks as the biggest free-agent coup in Clippers history, L.A. reached a verbal agreement with Davis. ESPN.com reported two days later that Davis was the player Brand asked Clippers management to chase.

But Clippers officials, already said to be privately shaken by Golden State's substantial offer to Brand, will have much more serious cause for concern if the Sixers can shed a salary or two this week to increase their available cap space.

Sources said that Carney going to Memphis would be a possibility because the Grizzlies have ample cap room of their own to absorb Carney as well as a natural interest in a player likely to have some gate appeal after experiencing collegiate success at Memphis.

But a deal with Minnesota would obviously be preferable for the Sixers, enabling them to shed two contracts and throw a megadeal at Brand after talking up what they could achieve in the summer of 2008 ever since dealing Allen Iverson to Denver in December 2006.

[mrhonline]

I'm telling you now, Brand isn't leaving the West Coast.

That cap room is for Smith.

[Admin]

I absolutely agree 5 years and 80 million is too much for Smith. If he gets an offer for that amount then we have to start looking at SnT options. What really worries me is that if Golden State loses out on Brand and they have already lost Baron they might feel inclined to make an overpriced offer to Smith just so they will have someone to come out of this offseason with.

[TanAdam]

Thank you for blessing us with your wisdom.

Did you happen to read the article posted above? Looks fairly serious to me. And the Sixers and Brand have been linked for a long time up until Davis went to the Clips. Then it got put on the back burner.

[mrhonline]

TanAdam,

How many years can the Clippers offer Brand compared with the Sixers?

[Admin]

Who knows what Brand is thinking. He might want that extra year, or he might want to get the heck out of the west and he could immediately make the Sixers a title contender in the east. I know that might sound crazy but if they keep their core together and add a real low post threat that can score and defend when the running game isn't working then they could be as good as anyone in the east. That might be enough to draw Brand to the east and it's not like he won't be getting paid quite well.

[tmac13]

Any conversations need to start with Louis Williams and Marreese Speights along with future 1sts. I agree 5 years and 80 million is simply too much. That could seriously hinder our ability to resign Horf in a few years.

There seem to be conflicting reports on who Philly is really after. If they get rebuffed by Brand then they might throw a huge offer at Smoove.

[mrhonline]

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There seem to be conflicting reports on who Philly is really after. If they get rebuffed by Brand then they might throw a huge offer at Smoove.

They'll most definitely offer that money to Brand. And, then he'll re-sign with the Clippers. (It was Brand who opted out of his deal to get Baron to L.A.)

And, even if he did sign with the Sixers, guess which teams has a huge hole at PF and the means to max out Smith? The Clippers.

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Any conversations need to start with Louis Williams and Marreese Speights along with future 1sts. I agree 5 years and 80 million is simply too much.

Agreed.

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That could seriously hinder our ability to resign Horf in a few years.

And Joe Johnson in two summers.

[AnakinJoe]

Josh Powell would be a GREAT pick-up for this team. An energy guy with a great work ethic and he isn't afraid to bang down low. He'd be a great 18 minutes a game back-up at PF.

[AtlHomer]

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I absolutely agree 5 years and 80 million is too much for Smith. If he gets an offer for that amount then we have to start looking at SnT options. What really worries me is that if Golden State loses out on Brand and they have already lost Baron they might feel inclined to make an overpriced offer to Smith just so they will have someone to come out of this offseason with.

This is when it gets interesting! Hopefully more folks are recognizing the Hawks must take a long term look to the makeup of their team. It's fair to say they have a 'number' that they are willing to match any team up to for Smith. Once agreements/proposals go above that number, the reasonable thing to do is try to determine how to get value back via a SNT. If it comes to that point, it will simply be a 'business decision' that is in the best interest of the team.

Sure, they would take a 'PR' hit but at the end of the day, they've got to think about the long term fiscal health of the organization.

[cowa]

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Any conversations need to start with Louis Williams and Marreese Speights along with future 1sts. I agree 5 years and 80 million is simply too much. That could seriously hinder our ability to resign Horf in a few years.

What if Philly won't play the S&T game? What if they say "screw the Hawks, if they want Smith, they can have him at the max." Everyone just assumes Philly will do a S&T. If I'm Philly, I say "here's your S&T deal: Reggie Evans and a 2nd round pick in 2011. Take it or leave it." This is what the Hawks were afraid to do with Joe Johnson, and many fans have ridiculed the Hawks for giving Phoenix too much. Now we just expect Philly to be willing partners in a S&T deal with a conference opponent. I just don't see Philly being very gracious here.

[foeteen14]

why not just match the offer. i'm not sure but i don't think sign and trades go too well for the team losing the sign and trade player. no deal the 76ers WOULD actually make with us will be worth losing josh. ASG already said they would match any offer, so why not just match the offer. we're in the big leagues now boys and girls, no more of that pittsburgh pirates mess. if you want a winning team and your serious you don't give up one of the most (maybe the most) talented 22 year olds in the league. match the offer and move on. you all are acting like smoove is going to get worse. no, he's only going to get better. match the offer.

[jhay610]

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they've got to think about the

long term fiscal health

of the organization.

They should've been thinking about that last offseason when they sat on their thumbs after tendering Smoove that lowball offer.

[tmac13]

They could play hardball, but the simple fact is they still have to resign Igoudala, Williams and Speight(their 1st round pick). Igoudala will get big buck, Williams will get decent bucks and Speight will get 20th pick money. I suspect even a team with deep pockets like Philly will have to do some choosing of who to keep and who to let go. I think Speight and Williams would not only fill needs for the Hawks but would also match pretty close to the money we can take back.

[MemphisX]

Brand opted out for Baron Davis. Brand to Philly is a smokescreen.

Josh Smith will be signing a MAX frontloaded offer sheet at midnight.

Do you think the 76ers asked the Mayor to come out to see their #2 free agent target. They wined and dined 1 player and Philly has been singing his praises since March.

You better hope the ASG matches.

[exodus]

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Brand opted out for Baron Davis. Brand to Philly is a smokescreen.

Josh Smith will be signing a MAX frontloaded offer sheet at midnight.

Do you think the 76ers asked the Mayor to come out to see their #2 free agent target. They wined and dined 1 player and Philly has been singing his praises since March.

You better hope the ASG matches.

Does this post look familiar?

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FYI

Memphis will have ~$15 million in cap space. Damon Stoudamire's cap number for next season is $1.63 million.

Also,

if Memphis does not get the #1 pick the #1 target will be Josh Smith with the maximum they can possibly offer him.

Using your salary projections:

Year 1: $14, 550, 000

Year 2: $15, 714, 000

Year 3: $16, 878, 000

Year 4: $18, 042, 000

Year 5: $19, 206, 000

----------------------------------

Total: $ 84, 390, 000

The thinking is that it is the same money as Gasol was getting with a younger, more defensive oriented player who will just be hitting his prime when the contract is at it's end.

click

[pound4pound]

I think the Mayor of Philadelphia would come out to see ANY free agent because it was a publicity stunt! F the Sixers, F the city of Philadelphia, and F their Mayor. That place is a toilet and if Josh Smith chooses to live and play in a toilet for the next 5 years then F him too.

[shug94]

Yeah, I just saw the story on yahoo sports:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ApUU...=yhoo&type=lgns

I figure we try to get a reasonable quality young player from them, maybe a Thaddeus Young in addition to draft picks and perhaps a trade exception?

[foeteen14]

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why not just match the offer. i'm not sure but i don't think sign and trades go too well for the team losing the sign and trade player. no deal the 76ers WOULD actually make with us will be worth losing josh. ASG already said they would match any offer, so why not just match the offer. we're in the big leagues now boys and girls, no more of that pittsburgh pirates mess. if you want a winning team and your serious you don't give up one of the most (maybe the most) talented 22 year olds in the league. match the offer and move on. you all are acting like smoove is going to get worse. no, he's only going to get better. match the offer.

i'm sorry, i'm frustrated, but i don't see the logic in taking a high school player giving him all this playing time to make him better, then letting another team have him in the prime of his career. it just doesn't make sense. it would turn the hawks into a breeding ground for talent. "you need the most dynamic player in the league, call the hawks (smoove). "you need a great shooter and scorer that actually plays defense, call the hawks"(JJ). "you need a tough as nails post player that has an offensive and defensive game, call the hawks"(horford). "oh yeah, you need a mid range shooter, they hate their number 2 pick thats only 22 years old and is deadly from mid range, call the hawks "(marvin). "our team just needs somebody who score and rebound, BUT doesn't need the ball all the time. I got an idea, call the hawks"(chillz) the future is now, you either make it happen or you let it happen. i pray as a true hawks fan that we MAKE it happen. we need to take a stance, instead of all this in and out whishy whashy crap. i've put alot of time, emmotion, and money into this current team, and for ownership to let it dissolve for B.S. is not an option for me. either sign smoove and show me that you are serious about what you say you're about, or i'm done. i can waste my time elsewhere