Not long after waiving a former No. 1 overall pick in Elton Brand, the Sixers came to terms with another former top pick, signing center Kwame Brown to a two-year, $6 million deal on Friday.
Brand, 33, drafted first by Chicago in 1999, is a two-time all-star who has averaged 18.3 points and 9.4 rebounds over a 13-year career. The 30-year-old Brown, however, has never lived up to the hype that accompanied him when the Washington Wizards made him the first pick in 2001.
Brown, the first high school player to go No. 1 overall, has averaged just 6.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game over an 11-year career that has seen him play for the Wizards, the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis, Detroit, Charlotte, and Golden State. Last season, his one and only with the Warriors, Brown appeared in just nine games before undergoing season-ending surgery on a pectoral muscle in January.
Sixers coach Doug Collins headed the Wizards when Washington selected Brown ahead of such players as Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, and Zach Randolph. Brown and Collins had a rocky relationship during Collins' two seasons in Washington.
The Sixers, however, flirted with the idea of trading for Brown before the start of the 2011-12 season. When asked about his relationship with Brown at the start of this past season, Collins said it was "fine."
After Collins' last season in Washington, Brown posted the best numbers of his career, notching highs in points (10.9) and rebounds (7.4).
In his last full season in the league, 2010-11, Brown averaged 7.9 points and 6.8 rebounds in 66 games, 50 of them starts.
Earlier on Friday, the Sixers announced the signing of center Spencer Hawes to a two-year, $13 million deal. Brown, who has played both power forward and center during his career, will have a chance to start at power forward and could also see some minutes at center.
Collins would probably prefer to have Brown starting at power forward and continue to bring Thaddeus Young and Lavoy Allen off the bench.
While it remains to be seen if they are better in 2012-13, the Sixers are definitely bigger across the frontline. Hawes, rookie Arnett Moultrie, Nik Vucevic, Brown, and Darryl Watkins give the Sixers at least five players on the roster 6-foot-10 or taller.
Contact John N. Mitchell at jmitchell@philly.com, or follow on Twitter @JmitchInquirer. Read his blog, "Deep Sixer," at philly.com/deepsixer
