SIxers follow Detroit model with Brand signing

There’s hope in Philadelphia again thanks to an $82 million part.

Who knew trading away Allen Iverson and Kyle Korver would do so much good?

Those moves allowed Philadelphia to sign highly sought after Elton Brand, who had been the Clippers' franchise forward, and now the Sixers have their best big man since the Round Mound of Rebound left town before the 1992-93 season.

Don’t be mistaken into thinking this is a Sixers team that will be dominated by the lethal one-two punch of Brand and Andre Iguodala, assuming he resigns.

Iguodala and Brand are both good players, all-star caliber players, but where do they fit in with in the pantheon of duos in the league? Not that high really. They aren’t as good as TMac and Yao. Kobe and Lamar are better too. Parker and Duncan…Not even close. What about the Eastern Conference? The only combination of the Boston’s big three that they might compare to is Allen and Pierce only because Brand might be better than Allen at this point -- might. Brand, after all, missed most of last season. What about Cleveland? LeBron and Z? Brand might be better than Z. It’s insulting to put (name deliberately left out) in the same sentence as either of Philly’s two stars.

Then why is there so much hope in Philadelphia? As good of an addition Brand is to a team that already had Igudola, there are a dozen teams that could put two players together and claim they have more talent than the Sixers top duo.

Simply put, the Sixers are built in the mold of the Pistons, who won a championship without the help of a future Hall of Fame player. They are the only team to win a championship without such a player in…..well….possibly ever.

The Sixers might not have individual standouts, but together they should be very good. They have a steady journeyman point guard, in Andre Miller, who isn’t easily rattled -- like the Pistons. They have a dominant power forward, in Brand who will be the catalyst for the offense. Sound familiar? Samuel Dalembert is one of the better shot blocking forces in the league. Think back to the real Ben Wallace. Thaddeus Young was a power forward in college and now he’s been moved to small forward. He creates matchup problems with other team’s small forwards because of his size. Tayshaun Prince has long arms. Young has big muscles. Igudola is as consistent of a scorer as it gets at shooting guard as long as he can get into the lane. The same can be said about Rip Hamilton and coming free off of screens.

The year before Detroit traded for Wallace, their offense sputtered in the playoffs without the presence of a low post scorer. Philly’s offense did the same thing against Detroit. Like when the Pistons added Wallace, now the Sixers have someone that can give them spacing only they won’t have to worry about Brand chucking it from the 3-point line.

The Sixers have hope, but it shouldn’t be from Brand’s singular dominance. They now have a chance to have a team, like Detroit, that’s better than the sum of its parts.

Even though one of those parts cost $82 million.