Dallas Mavericks claim amnestied forward Elton Brand off waivers – NBA News
After starting off dismally in the free agency, the Dallas Mavericks have made some good moves in the past few days.
The Mavericks lost out on Deron Williams this off season and then saw Jason Terry and Jason Kidd leave, but they have made some sensible signings to form a good roster for next season. On Friday, they landed an important piece
of the puzzle when the league announced that the Mavericks had claimed Elton Brand off amnesty waivers. The Mavericks won the rights to Brand with a bid of $2.1 million.
Brand was amnestied by the Philadelphia 76ers on July 11th to make cap space for some new signings as they looked to rebuild the team. The veteran averaged 11 points and 7.1 rebounds last season, and is a potent threat
on the front court even at 33.
“Excited. I figured that I'd be claimed [off waivers] and that's definitely the destination I was hoping for,” said Brand about his move to Dallas while talking to ESPN.com.
Only teams under the salary cap were eligible to bid for Brand, and the Mavericks, being one of those teams, were determined to land him. They have also signed All Star centre Chris Kaman to a one year deal worth $8 million, and
then traded with the Indiana Pacers for Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones, in exchange for Ian Mahinmi.
Brand, Kaman and Collison are all signed to one year deals which will enable Dallas to have plenty of cap space next summer and aggressively pursue free agents to make themselves championship contenders once again, after winning
it all in the 2010-2011 season.
“It's going to be great playing with someone of Dirk Nowitzki's calibre. Chris Kaman is still a really good player and is going to show everybody that. And I've heard a lot of good things about Coach [Rick] Carlisle,” said Brand.
Brand is expected to start at the centre position alongside Dirk Nowitzki, even though Nowitzki is taller than him. The two players also play together in the German national team, and the Mavs will be hoping for a good chemistry
between them early into the season.
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