Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand has been on the job for about 18 months now, but the man has made some big moves that a lot of general managers don’t normally make.
The offseason of 2019 was a big one for Brand as he brought in Josh Richardson in a sign-and-trade involving Jimmy Butler and then he signed Al Horford to a long-term deal as well as Tobias Harris. He then signed Ben Simmons to a big contract extension which brought big championship expectations to Philadelphia, and rightfully so.
However, the moves have not exactly worked out to plan as they went into the league hiatus at the 6 seed and an underwhelming 39-26 record.
The Horford-Joel Embiid duo has not fit and Richardson is not exactly the sharpshooter that JJ Redick was. Those moves have earned him an average grade from Bleacher Report as they gave Brand a “C” for his big moves.
B/R on Brand:
Taking a chance on Jimmy Butler had Philly just a Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, and getting Josh Richardson after Butler made it known he wanted to leave for the Heat was a positive.
The Ben Simmons extension was a given, but Al Horford’s deal was a huge mistake, and Brand may have to give up draft picks to get out of it. Despite his production, $36 million per year for Harris is probably too much, and he can’t play his natural power forward position as much now with Horford on the team.
The Sixers have disappointed for much of the year but still have one of the most talented rosters in the conference. If Brand can move Horford for another big contract that fits better (Harrison Barnes? Chris Paul?), he’ll redeem his biggest mistake.
If Brand can pull off a Horford trade in the summer, then it would be a huge redeeming move on his part. The challenge is, not a lot of teams will want to take a chance on an aging big man with a bloated contract no matter how many intangibles he brings to the table. [lawrence-related id=32479,32471,32464]