Elton Brand has agreed to extend his NBA career for at least one more year, this time with the Atlanta Hawks.
News of the big man's new deal comes via Brand's agent David Falk who informed Hoopshype of the agreement.
Elton Brand is headed to Atlanta, agent David Falk tells HoopsHype. It's a one-year deal.
- HoopsHype (@hoopshype) July 15, 2013
Brand is undoubtedly on the final whims of a terrific 14-year NBA career, but that doesn't mean he can't still fill a valuable role in this league.
The 34-year-old suffered through arguably his worst ever offensive season in his first year with the Dallas Mavericks in 2013. He averaged a career-low 12.2 points per 36 minutes on 47.3 percent shooting. But in his second season playing mostly center, he has continued his evolution into a stingy defensive player.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Brand is only 6'8" and 275 pounds, but he has done a marvelous job controlling the paint the last two years.
After averaging 1.2 steals and 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes in his last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, he bumped those numbers up slightly to 1.2 and 2.1 with the Mavs. Moreover, in those two seasons, he put together defensive ratings of 96 and 102, two of the three best marks of his career.
Simply put, while the former Duke star and co-Rookie of the Year started just 18 games and averaged 21.2 minutes per game-the latter being a career low-last season, he is still a valuable player in this league.
Although he struggled offensively with the Mavs, he's still a savvy scorer who can be efficient on the offensive end in limited minutes. Defensively and on the glass (he averaged the third most rebounds per 36 in his career last season), he's still as productive as he was in his prime.
Throw in the fact that he's a consummate professional willing to accept a lesser role and be a veteran presence in the locker room, and this is a solid-if not underrated-signing.
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