Reaction to Elton Brand

[dockingsched]

Thoughts on elton brand?

i created a few options that try to capture one's feelings but feel free to elaborate.

there's been reports that the front office put a take it or leave it ultimatum on brand, there's also been reports that he was suppose to take a pay cut for a high profile free agent.

thoughts on elton brand?

[GuyverX]

I picked 'traitor of epic proportions' but really the FO is also to blame. If in fact Sterling gave Baylor and company a blank check, the Clippers just dropped the ball thinking Brand is this altruistic, stand up guy who will take a pay cut no matter what. It just so happens that Brand is not that selfless and wanted to cash in as well as win. There are reports that the Clippers took this "take it or leave it" stance with their offer of $70 million over 5 years. Now, if Brand was the guy that all Clipper fans thought he was, he would've just taken that offer, announced a verbal agreement the day after Davis (despite accusations of tampering that nobody can prove) announced his deal and all is well. Unfortunately, Brand wanted to squeeze more money out from the team and the Clippers apparently were stupid enough to make him think they were low-balling him.

Both sides screwed up big time. Does anybody still give Boozer crap for pulling a fast one on Cleveland? Maybe his wholesome image takes a hit, maybe not. And while Brand will get over it counting his money, the fans are the real victims here. We didn't deserve this emotional roller coaster.

[Forte IV]

I hate elton brand.....he can die for all i care

[dockingsched]

I picked 'traitor of epic proportions' but really the FO is also to blame. If in fact Sterling gave Baylor and company a blank check, the Clippers just dropped the ball thinking Brand is this altruistic, stand up guy who will take a pay cut no matter what. It just so happens that Brand is not that selfless and wanted to cash in as well as win. There are reports that the Clippers took this "take it or leave it" stance with their offer of $70 million over 5 years. Now, if Brand was the guy that all Clipper fans thought he was, he would've just taken that offer, announced a verbal agreement the day after Davis (despite accusations of tampering that nobody can prove) announced his deal and all is well. Unfortunately, Brand wanted to squeeze more money out from the team and the Clippers apparently were stupid enough to make him think they were low-balling him.

Both sides screwed up big time. Does anybody still give Boozer crap for pulling a fast one on Cleveland? Maybe his wholesome image takes a hit, maybe not. And while Brand will get over it counting his money, the fans are the real victims here. We didn't deserve this emotional roller coaster.

the front office does have blame but ultimately its just horrible what brand did. if he didn't care about the high profile free agent and wanted the money, the clippers could have gone about fulfilling that from the beginning. resign brand for whatever he wants, keep magz or sign n trade him, get udrih with the mle, and you have a team that is at least as good as the sixers, udrih/gordon/livingston/mobley/magz/thornton/thomas/powell/ross/brand/kaman. brand really screwed over the clippers by not being upfront with his intentions.

[ClipperDomination]

I also voted for the traitor option as well. If you say something as big as Falk and Brand have said with their intentions to stay with the Clipps as long as they build around him, then live up to your word.

Brand is not a man of his word. Period.

The FO has to share some of the blame as well, but Brand screwed us up big time. We could have been a contender, now we're just another crappy team.

[GuyverX]

Yeah, as you said dcash, he could've just signed a max deal with the Clippers from the very beginning if money was all he was after. I think this is what could've happened here: Brand never really wanted to be a Clipper in the first place and opted out just to see how much he could get and from which teams. Saying he wanted the Clippers to sign Davis just gave Golden State humongous cap room. This led to Golden State and the Clippers and their bidding war. If Golden State or some other team didn't pony up, at least he would be on a good team with Davis and the Clippers.

He knew full well that there has to be some team out there (who he is interested in going to) willing to pay him the max. If there wasn't enough interest, he would just settle for the Clippers and that's that. Once Golden State offered him that $90 million dollar deal, Philly started making plans to dump some salaries in order to lure Brand. It's been rumored that Brand has been wanting to go east for a while now and he certainly did in 2003 with the Heat.

In the end, the temptation of getting paid and moving to a less competitive eastern conference overshadowed his so-called loyalty to the Clippers. Really, it would be giving Brand too much credit for this cold-blooded strategy but Falk definitely has that rep.

[mkwest]

I'm going to put it this way. Any Clipper fan here is going to vote either traitor (which I voted for) or front office. The clown who voted meant to be is probably from Philly or just a hater.

[Hawks]

I am not a Clippers fan. I had to vote in this. I would say he was looking out for himself. The reality is he is a traitor.

[Tucker74]

Despite the FO bumbling and history of ineptness, got to go with traitor. No way you clearly and unequivocally state your intention and do a complete turnaround and walk away without being a traitor.

[SD2042]

It's a cruel situation that the Clips find themselves in. With the Brand situation, the money won out. Elton looks like a liar now that he's opting for Philly. Both Brand and the Clips FO dropped the ball big time here and the fans are paying the price for crucial mistakes that have been made. Especially with Maggs going to the Warriors and not opting to trade him for some solid pieces to help the Clippers. Really a depressing period for the Clipper Nation.

[mj_shoefanatic]

elton who?

Why did he ask our FO to go after Baron just so that he could not re-sign then pull a 'Carlos Boozer'? Thank GOD we still have Kaman, Thornton and Gordon or else Clipper basketball would be even more painful to watch in 08/09.

[freshie2]

What did the Clipper FO offer? If they offered 5/82, then he's a traitor...otherwise, it's another FO mistake for the Clippers.

[cinnamon]

.

If he wanted to leave, or planned to leave, or was open to leaving, there was no need to pull the wool over the Clippers' eyes as he did so. There was no need to suggest that he would sign for less if they signed Baron Davis. There was no need to leave them hamstrung.
He did great damage in the way he left, and that damage was all so unnecessary.
Traitor. Double-crosser. Betrayer. Yes, surely. Hurting and harming so many people. And with such a long-lasting impact.

.

[madmaxmedia]

If the Clippers had proactively created some more cap space to meet Brand in the middle (between $70 and the $82 he did get from the Sixers, I think the whole mess would have been averted.

I don't know if it is true or not, but it was reported that the Clippers initially refused to budge from their $70 million, even though they could have renounced Livingston and Maggette to bump up their offer.

I think Brand was willing to stay for less. But that doesn't mean he would accept less THAN WHAT THE CLIPPERS THEMSELVES COULD DO. There's a HUGE difference between the 2.

At that point the damage was done. EB no longer felt loyal to a franchise that didn't try to accomodate him, and assumed they could save a few bucks by paying him less than they could afford to. They finally caved and effectively matched Phila's offer, but at that point EB no longer wanted to be a Clipper.

[livingston2kaman]

I hope his wife dumps him, takes more then half his **** and he never sees his kid PERIOD, his production company goes downhill and he suffers a career ending injury and is forced to retire. Then, I want to see him beg Baron Davis to help him out and see Baron say "**** off piece of ****"

[jflipclip]

He's still my favorite player in the league, but it hurts that he lowballed our franchise and fanbase. Also, how come we have yet to hear ANY word from him? When McHale and the Knicks took our place as comedy in the league, EB had to make this happen. Ugh.

[loflin3hree5ive]

Elton Brand is a puppet. I hope he enjoys all the "brotherly love" in Philly. Time to move on I guess. Thankfully we have the cap flexibility to land a solid replacement. All hope is definitely not lost.

[corgiBear8]

I still have to hear more to give my reaction. He was my favorite Clipper and seemed like the most stand up guy in the league. I'm leaning towards traitor from what I hear with him allowing Falk to have all the control, but we'll see.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Y'all don't have to be so mean and cold hearted. I think this is a mistake of his agent and the front office. The FO should have done everything from the beginning to keep Elton. He was our franchise and you do everything to keep a player like that. If you read that article on yahoo it points out that Falk wasn't always keeping the lines of communication open between the two sides.

All this said I'm very pissed that Elton left and we need to beat the crap out of Philly next season.

[JJ LoDuca]

I chose "elton who?" Yall don't understand. Actually-- all of you seem to understand completely, except you #2, we don't have to be so cold hearted??? Really? Let me drop some knowledge real quick then.

I used to love this player. LOVED him. Not just that he was my favorite Clipper or favorite NBA player, he was my favorite athlete, period. First of all, he had game, but also more heart, desire, and morals than seemingly any other athlete to grace turf or hardwood. Since he was traded here in 2001, dude wearing #42 was my hero. Last summer when he got hurt, there was devastation all around La Naciòn (that's referring to Clipper Nation, with a little flava of course). But we rallied beside the player and our team anyway. When he returned in April, I spent $60 per ticket to take my little brother and myself to cheer for him upon his return to Staples. We wanted to welcome him back the right way.

Three months later, I would spend $120 dollars if it meant I could sit in the rafters at Staples and boo my cold heart out and have the possibility of kicking him in the shins (not to mention the garden shears to the Achilles idea as well). I don't need to explain the treachery that has gone down these past few days, yall know the story. You know how he opted out, intending to return to the Clippers as long as we signed a nice player with the cap space. You know how that player specifically mentioned Baron Davis as the signing he desired. You know how he expressed his feelings about taking a pay cut in order to play with bigger talent and a chance to win. And you know how, without a word, he slithered to Philly for a contract $1 million more than what the Clips offered. You could make excuses for David Falk, who seems to be as much of a slimy traitor as the player is, for not letting the player know all of the options that were open to him. Despite that rumor (which is yet to be confirmed), if the player wanted to stay true to his word, he would have stayed in LA. Now he is gone, and he is dead to me. elton who?

I just wonder how the guys who were counting on him to return feel about this. I'm talking about Kaman, Baron, and even Livingston. Do they feel like we do, or do they turn the "it's just business" shoulder? They know the player personally better than we do. And I very much doubt that if they felt like we did that they would express these sentiments in the media. But I'd be interested to know.

Off my soap box.