All eyes are on Elton Brand at 76ers training camp. Halfway through the six-day camp at Penn State, Brand is already making a very good impression.
The Sixers signed Brand, a two-time All-Star, to a five-year, $82 million contract in July. He fills their glaring need for somebody who can score down low, demand a double team and complement Samuel Dalembert inside on the defensive end. The 29-year-old Brand is coming off a season in which he missed the first 74 games with a torn left Achilles tendon. He reported to camp confident that the Achilles would hold up to scrimmaging and running after working out in Philadelphia prior to the start of camp.
"He looks fine," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He's doing all the things he's done before (in summer workouts)."
Brand said there would be no break-in period, and there hasn't been, so far.
"I feel great," Brand said. "I don't have anything to complain about."
Neither do the Sixers.
Brand had already caught his teammates' attention in summer pickup games by demanding the ball in a 7-7 game to 8.
"To have a guy like that with that mind-set in a pickup game, I can only imagine when something's really on the line, the type of player he can be and the things he can do," guard Lou Williams said. "When you get a veteran guy (like that), you can't help but be excited. When I look at the way he approaches a pickup game, it trickles down to (the other players). It changes everybody's mind-set. It makes the team better with him being here."
