From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

An unfortunate coincidence.

That’s the vibe that seemed to fill the Wachovia Center last night after 76ers forward Elton Brand, clutching his dislocated right shoulder, walked off the court midway through the third quarter of a 93-88 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sixers officials said Brand was undergoing an MRI exam after the game. No timetable on his return was immediately available.

All week, the talk swirling around the Sixers was about whether Brand’s commanding inside presence, bought at the cost of $80 million this off-season, had caused a loss of identity for the young, formerly running-and-gunning team.  More...

• At Wages of Wins, Dave Berri looks at Elton Brand’s declining numbers, and how they might have cost Mo Cheeks his job: “Brand’s WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] is 0.075 this season.  And last season it was only 0.058.  Both marks are below average and not exactly consistent with the $80 million contract Brand received this summer. Of course the Sixers didn’t think they were signing a below average Brand.  In 2006-07 Brand’s WP48 was 0.213, and it was this player the Sixers hoped to have (and it was this player people thought about in forecasting the performance of this team).  If this was the Brand the team was playing, the Sixers would currently be on pace to win 45 games.  And again, Cheeks would still be employed.”

The Elton Brand story — the extent to which it would be strange, or sad, or cathartic for Clips fans to see him as an ‘x’ instead of an ‘o’ on the court — got buried underneath the Randolph acquisition on Friday.  Before the fireworks, Clips Nation posted a nice meditation early Friday morning, writing “when I look at what I wrote back in July, I just don’t have that much more to say.  I still feel pretty much the same.”  Agreed.  What Steve Said.  More...

• Ramona Shelburne posts a smart distillation of the Brand drama.  The before-the-jump tease:

  “At the time Elton opted out of his contract on June 30, his intention was to return to the Clippers. He and David Falk said it multiple times.His intention was so strong, he spent the next day or two helping to court Baron Davis to sign with the Clippers. Davis, the third player in this dramatic triad, decided to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Warriors at the 11th hour, when it became clear the Warriors would not give him an extension. Subsequent reports out of the Bay Area indicate the Warriors had offered Baron and extension, then pulled it back.Needless to say, when Baron opted out of his contract, everything changed.Udrih was no longer the primary target. Davis was, and Brand had several conversations with him trying to woo him.One problem: The Clippers had approximately $27 million in salary cap space. If Brand wanted $15 million a season, that left only $12 million for Udrih/Davis/Maggette. Maggette wanted $10 or $11 million, Udrih was looking for a full mid-level exception deal (approximately $5.5 million a season), Davis’ market value was somewhere in the $12-$15 million a season range as well.The question was: would any of those players settle for less to be together?

  Very quickly, it appeared Brand and Davis had worked it out amongst themselves. Brand verbally agreeing to take $14 million a season (five years, $70 million) Baron agreeing to $13 million a season (five years, $65 million).”

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