Sixers Announce Elton Brand as Player Development Consultant

For what seems to be the 42nd time in the last decade, the 76ers have once again employed the services of Elton Brand.

The team announced Tuesday morning that Brand will be hired as Player Development Consultant. This job, per the Sixers, entails being “heavily involved in assisting the players in every facet of their on- and off-court development, in addition to other responsibilities within the basketball operations department.”

More from the team press release:

“We are extremely excited to bring Elton Brand back into the organization where he will be a valuable resource to our young and developing team," Colangelo said. "Elton’s leadership and character displayed throughout his playing career as a player align perfectly with our vision, direction and culture of this basketball team, coaching staff and management group."

This hire seems like a good move on the surface: not only does Brand have a rapport established with most players on the team already, but could be helpful for Joel Embiid et al. in big-man development. Brand is by all accounts a great locker-room guy, and if we’re being honest, this job doesn’t sound far off from the reason the team brought him back into the fold last January.

To the confusion of many, the team re-signed Brand to a one-year deal on September 7th — a questionable move from a team that’s roster already suffered a frontcourt logjam. But after being noticeably absent from any preseason play, the former Rookie of the Year announced his retirement on October 20th. If his role was only ever going to be in helping player development, formally hiring him for such makes sense over taking up a roster spot.

Regardless, good to have you back, Elton.