In the immediate aftermath of Elton Brand's reported signing with Philadelphia, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Clippers had given the forward some sort of ultimatum, a move which might have angered E.B. and sent him into Thaddeus Young's waiting arms (via ClipsNation).What had come to hurt the Clippers' chances of retaining Brand has been the organization's refusal to offer anything but a "take-it-or-leave-it" deal since Golden State made its $90-plus million offer. People close to Brand say that "it pissed him off," and made him question his original desire to stay a Clipper.What strikes me on first glance -- wasn't the reported $70 million, five years offer from the Clips the max they could offer after reeling in Baron Davis? There has some dispute over whether the Clippers renounced Brand to sign Davis; if not, the Clippers could have offered a sixth year. However, there were reports last week that Brand wasn't after a sixth year. (There were also reports Brand's agent had set up L.A.'s Davis snatch to help get Brand a good team around him, but obviously that one wasn't so right.)
One more thing strikes me: how can it be about money when Brand takes $8 million less from the Sixers than he would have received from the Warriors? Brand's mad about the Clipper offer, but takes the one from Philly when Golden State is showing it values him more? It doesn't make any sense, unless Brand refused to consider Golden State for other reasons. This story should be fun to follow for a while.
