Empty the Bench

Baron Davis and Elton Brand will still likely find a big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, perhaps as soon as this afternoon, but as it stands these two perennial All-Stars will wake up this morning having said “no thanks” to a guaranteed $34 million between them.

That’s how much they would have made during this upcoming season—Davis was due $17.8 million from Golden State, Brand a cool $16.4 million courtesy of the Clippers—before opting out of their respective deals and declaring themselves open for business on the first day of the NBA’s summer free agency bonanza.

Well, let’s backtrack. For the first year in some time this year’s free-agent class isn’t an especially exciting one. It’s like a bland slice of pizza that tastes like cardboard but does the job at 1:30am after a night at the local watering hole: not much nutrition, doesn’t do much for you in the long run, but is a decent stop gap for warding off a hangover.

Elton Brand Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Until Davis and Brand entered the fray, the most interesting names out there from our view aren’t players that are going to come in and save a franchise: SG/SF Corey Maggette, PG Beno Udrih, SF James Posey, SG/SF Ricky Davis, SG/SF Mickael Pietrus… hell, in today’s point-guard needy NBA one might even say that Sebastian Telfair will be somewhat “in demand.” Gilbert Arenas is out there too, but it’s looking more and more likely that Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld is intent on retaining his services and throwing $100+ million at Agent Zero to do so. We think that’s money more better spent elsewhere, but then the Wizards have long been a team content to wallow in mediocrity so resigning him to a lucrative deal makes complete sense.

The list of restricted free agents is considerably more loaded, but we really don’t anticipate much movement from that class. As most of you know, every restricted free agent’s current team has the right to match any offer said player receives from another team. That makes the chances of Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis, Emeka Okafor, Andris Biedrins, et al changing locales under any circumstances save for a sign-and-trade deal rather unlikely.

So what becomes of Baron Davis and Elton Brand? Davis could, of course, return to Golden State, though that doesn’t seem like his first choice at the moment. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski (one of our favorite NBA writers) reports the Clippers are wooing Davis and have hopes of resigning Brand too. This is the Los Angeles Clippers we’re talking about, however, a franchise well known for bungling big opportunities and squandering big-time talent, so we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if instead of landing both of these guys they signed neither. As Wojnarowski points out, however, the Clips could have about $26 million to split between Brand and Davis so it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Some think that B-Diddy may be eyeing the New York Knicks as a potential new employer, though for that to happen the Knickerbockers would need to find a way to wriggle out of Stephon Marbury’s $20 million salary for the 2008-09 season. Given his fledgling movie ambitions, we’re inclined to say Davis wants to stay near Hollywood, so the Clippers do make some sense. Other possibilities include the Memphis Grizzlies (very unlikely) and perhaps the Philadelphia 76ers, though they already have an above-average PG in Andre Miller and would likely pursue Brand first with their cap space.

The most sensible options for Brand (read: teams with money) are to either stay with the Clippers, which he has repeatedly hinted at, or perhaps heading back to the Eastern Conference and signing on with the up-and-coming 76ers, who made great strides last season and would have to be considered strong contenders next year with a lineup headlined by Brand, Miller, Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert, and Thaddeus Young. The 29-year-old, 6-8 Brand is exactly the kind of dedicated post-up big man the team needs, and it would seem an enticing possibility for Brand if he’s intent on winning a title. The 76ers would still have some serious work to do on that front, but we all know that advanced civilizations on another planet will be discovered long before the Clippers win a NBA championship.

There are also sign-and-trade possibilities for both Brand and Davis; I recently outlined one scenario that saw Brand winding up in Detroit (admittedly somewhat unlikely). Whatever happens, both of these ETB favorites will be handsomely paid, but it still takes some cajones to throw two sheets to the wind and politely decline a $16+ million salary.

Related: Baron Davis, Elton Brand, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Gilbert Arenas, Philadelphia 76ers