Report: Atlanta Hawks could bring back Elton Brand
By Phil Watson
According to a report, the Atlanta Hawks could bring back veteran big man Elton Brand in 2014-15.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported earlier this week that the Hawks are in negotiations with the 15-year pro.
Brand was with the Hawks last season, playing in 73 games and starting 15 after center Al Horford was lost to a torn pectoral muscle. He averaged 5.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and one assist in 19.4 minutes per game, shooting .539/0-for-2/.649.
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Brand, however, was a non-factor in Atlanta’s seven-game loss in the first round to the Indiana Pacers, scoring eight points with 23 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game.
Brand was the first overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1999 NBA Draft after playing two seasons at Duke, earning AP Player of the Year honors as well as the Wooden and Naismith awards as a sophomore.
He went on to be named Rookie of the Year in 1999-2000 and is a two-time NBA All-Star. Brand was an All-NBA selection with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2005-06.
Brand played last season on a one-year, $4 million deal. He is one of the few NBA players to make a complete comeback from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. He missed all but eight games in 2007-08 with the Clippers after suffering the injury, but came back to be a full-time starter for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before he was released.
He played in 2012-13 with the Dallas Mavericks and has career averages of 16.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 blocks in 34 minutes a game over a 1,005-game career.