Elton Brand signed a one-year contract with the Sixers earlier this month, but that deal is non-guaranteed and Brand is part of a crowded frontcourt in Philadelphia. Still, the former first overall pick is a good bet to make the Sixers’ 15-man roster, according to Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers, who tweets that the club appears poised to hang on to Brand beyond training camp.
Brand, 37, signed with the Sixers last January and appeared in 17 games for the team the rest of the way, averaging 4.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 13.2 minutes per contest. When Brand first joined the team, he wrote a piece for The Cauldron suggesting that he believed his “experience and wisdom” could help Jahlil Okafor and other young players on Philadelphia’s roster. Presumably, he aims to fill that veteran leadership role once again, particularly with Carl Landry no longer in the mix.
However, Brand’s ongoing veteran presence on the Sixers’ roster might cost the team one of its young prospects. With only 11 guaranteed salaries on its books, Philadelphia won’t face any financial ramifications for keeping Brand, but it will leave just three open roster spots for the club’s other eight non-guaranteed players. That group includes Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson, Jerami Grant, T.J. McConnell, James Webb, Brandon Paul, Shawn Long, and Cat Barber.
If the Sixers decide to keep Brand and want to retain more than three of those non-guaranteed players, it may spell trouble for someone like Nik Stauskas. The former King has a guaranteed salary worth nearly $3MM for 2016/17, but wasn’t great during his first year in Philadelphia — it’s not clear if he’s part of the club’s long-term plans.