Asked when he last spoke to Brand, Davis said it was yesterday, laughing and adding, “I can’t tell you what I said to him.”

“I’m signed, sealed and delivered, so I’m not disappointed at all,” he said. “And he’s signed and he’s committed.”

Davis had tried to sway Brand’s decision.

“I talked to him, would tell him, ‘Hey, this is the best place for you, we can do great things.’ But obviously he chose otherwise,” Davis said. “I can’t be mad at him for that. I wish Elton brand the best. He’s a great guy, always going to a great player and a friend of mine. He made a decision for the future of his family.

“There’s no more Elton Brand in L.A. It’s my turn and a chance for the young guys to step up. Get a couple more free agents and we’ll be ready to go.”

Davis said he didn’t consider backing out of his deal (five years, $65 million) with the Clippers because Brand wasn’t going to be around.

“It didn’t really matter, once I made my mind up. I’m a man of my word,” Davis said. “I committed to the Clippers and they committed to me.”

Meanwhile…. is anyone else wondering who the hell is going to make 3-pointers in Philly to keep teams from doubling Brand?

The 76ers finished DEAD LAST in threes made as a team, and that was WITH Kyle Korver & Rodney Carney making 38 each (both no longer with team). Andre Miller can’t hit a three to save his life, Willie Green shot just 28.5% from distance, and Iguodala is a 33% outside shooter for his career.

Ummm, perhaps they should consider this.

Overpaying for Maggette when it wasn’t needed is fucked up tho.

From Philly’s standpoint, if giving Brand all this money prevents them from re-signing Louis Williams, I don’t like it. They must think they can win the East NOW. Andre Miller is 32 and Brand is 29. Personally, I thought going after Josh Smith (22) and trying to re-sign Lou Will (21) made more sense. Then they could have peaked at the same time as Iggy and THEN Philly could have brought in a veteran to put them over the hump. Instead, they’re risking their future (who will replace Dre?) to win now.

Chris Mullin is a sucka for giving Maggette $50 million over 5 years.

“Golden State apparently offered more money and a longer term than most of Maggette’s suitors, who mostly couched their offers at the mid-level salary cap exception.”

Nice job of overreacting Mullin! Do you realize that Maggette turns 29 on November 12th and that he’ll be well past his prime when his deal is up? I’d say that the Xzibit look-alike is worth $20 million over 3 years and no mas. And it’s not like the Warriors are going to be contenders over the next 3 years. So does it really make sense to blow your extra money on a player that’s neither going to make you a contender nor help your team in the long run? So the Warriors will win a few extra games now…big deal. They’re still not gonna do anything in the playoffs and now they have no extra loot to go after a future star. Brilliant!

Of course, they’re still in a better position than the Clippers it seems. Unless the Clipps manage to sign J-Smoov, they’re going to be in for a long season. Oh well, at least Baron is home now.

I thought my plan (Baron & Brand team up to take LAC far in the playoffs, the 76ers team up Iggy & J-Smoov to be a dominant duo 4 years from now, the Warriors spend their money wisely to rebuild around Monta) made sense for all teams, but what do I know? The best laid plans often go awry anyway.

The Mavs don’t need any help, they just signed Gerald Green. It makes sense to bring back Diop, but they essentially have the same roster plus 2 new swingmen: Green & Shan Foster. Good luck if they think they can win with that.

I like your trade proposal, but I’m not sure if Atlanta would go for that. Teaming up Terry w/ Joe Johnson is intriguing, but I think they’d rather keep J-Chill. Terry also has $41 million over 4 years left, so I don’t think salaries would match up. But yeah, I think Dallas needs to make some kind of move just to shake things up a bit. Maybe they can sucker someone into taking Dampier off their hands…

I’m a big fan of Louis Williams. If you checked out my Dunk stats piece, you saw that he was #2 in dunks by players under 6-4, after Monta of course. And I’m sure you’ve all seen this play where he blocks Okur and then finishes with the alley-oop:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rFn6W8OX0S4

That play tells you a lot about his athleticism, but I’m pretty sure Philly is going to match any offer for him. Plus, he’s a small dude. He’s barely strong enough to guard PG’s, let alone SG’s. Andre Miller is big enough to guard 2’s, so it works for Philly, but I really think Monta needs to defend PG’s only.

Kyle Lowry is only 6-0, but at least he’s strong for his size and a solid defender. The problem with him is he can’t shoot threes, which is a weakness for Monta as well. So I don’t think they’d be a good pair. But Lowry is definitely on the block and I like his toughness.

Back to Philly for a second… if they somehow manage to sign J-Smoov and re-sign Lou, WATCH OUT!

For your boys, what do you think of Louie Williams from PHI? Would he make a good backcourt teamed up with Monta Ellis? Or Kyle Lowry? Which would work better in Nellie’s system?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/clippers/la-sp-clips3-2008jul03,0,2410090.story

that fool is perfect for Don Nelson. That shit he did with the Bobs to end 2007 was no fluke. He was destroying the NBA for a month getting some real burn.

They get him for the LLE or VM, they could move Harrington..

..and now the LA Times is saying Brand to the Warriors is a DONE DEAL.