Brand leaning towards Philly

[oiatlhawksfan]

Quote:

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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 now are a very serious threat to tempt him away from L.A. -- after initially fearing 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 trading away swingman Rodney Carney and center Calvin Booth, setting them up to 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 by using the $2.8 million remaining from a trade exception created by Minnesota's trade of Mark Blount to Miami last October and a separate minimum player exception. 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 $58-59 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.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3477424

[Packfill]

The article doesn't say that Brand is leaning towards Philly. Rather, it says Philly is making moves such that it can be a viable suitor.

In the end though, Brand can do whatever he wants.

[SmooveTheFuture]

I believe Brand is from Upper state NY and by signing with the sixers would put him that much closer to him if thats what matters to him.