Miami Heat: When Elton Brand Almost Joined the Team

Veteran forward/center Elton Brand recently announced his retirement after 16 seasons in the NBA. For newer, younger fans of the league, the news comes with little fanfare. In recent years, Brand had become the veteran big body on semi-contending teams that hardly played, a far cry from being the first overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft and considered a potential cornerstone for a franchise.

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At one point, it even appeared that he would play that prominent role as a member of the Miami Heat.

This is one of those mostly-forgotten stories scattered throughout NBA history, elements of which seem almost too impossible to be true. But before we get to how Brand nearly joined the Heat, the tale begins with Anthony Carter, the journeyman point guard that once played in Miami.

Heat president Pat Riley had assembled a playoff contending team once he joined the franchise in 1995. His first move was to acquire his center of the future, Alonzo Mourning, from the Charlotte Hornets. Over the next few years Mourning was the face of the franchise and other key players – Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, and P.J. Brown among them – helped transform the team into a rugged, defensive-minded unit.

In 1999, Carter (out of the University of Hawaii) was an undrafted free agent; Riley had frequently found success with these types of unproven players. Carter didn’t do anything particularly well but he was a serviceable backup for Hardaway during that first year and was rewarded with short-term deals followed by a three-year extension for roughly $12 million.

The last year of his contract was a player option and which had to be exercised by simply notifying the team before a certain deadline. Carter’s representatives were going to send that notification via fax machine but failed to do so, as detailed here by ESPN’s Marc Stein:

"Bill Duffy, the agent for Miami Heat guard Anthony Carter, told ESPN.com on Monday that a clerical error in his office led to the missed contract deadline that threatens to cost Carter the bulk of his $4.1 million salary next season.Carter was required to notify the Heat by June 30 that he intended to invoke the player option on the final season of his original three-year, $12 million contract. When the Heat received no such notification, the NBA officially listed Carter as a free agent Tuesday — the first day teams were permitted to negotiate with free agents."

The ever-opportunistic Riley took advantage of the unexpected salary cap space and, perhaps rather coldly, looked to upgrade the roster without Carter.

Enter Brand, the restricted free agent who has spent his first four years in the league between the Chicago Bulls and, in 2003, the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers were a potentially up-and-coming team, building a core that consisted of several young players. Much of their roster was loaded with others that, like Brand, were entering into contract negotiations. Andre Miller, Michael Olowokandi and Corey Maggette were all restricted free agents, as was a young forward named Lamar Odom.

But Brand, who averaged 19.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, was the most productive player in that group. Riley and the Heat extended an offer sheet to Brand that was worth six years and $84.2 million, a considerable sum worth much more than L.A. owner Donald Sterling was hoping to pay.

On the surface, Miami’s offer seemed legitimate. The team was on the verge of losing Mourning to free agency and they needed a big man. Brian Grant was on the roster, but he was best suited for power forward whereas Brand (at 6’8″ and nearly 280 lbs.) could play center without being totally over-matched. Riley explained the move to add the former Duke Blue Devil:

"“This organization has always been committed to winning,” Heat coach Pat Riley said in a statement. “This offer sheet for Elton Brand is a continuance of that commitment to try to win and put the best possible players on the floor for our fans to enjoy.”"

Sterling had, for years, been labeled one of the stingiest owners in the NBA. He cut corners wherever possible and the Clippers were considered by many to be the league’s laughingstock; retaining Brand, thought Sterling, could change that perspective. He matched Miami’s offer, thus ending Brand’s brief “career” with the Heat.

But Riley wasn’t done. With Sterling committing so much money to many of their free agents, they’d have to cut ties with someone. Odom, a raw but versatile forward, had yet to reach his potential. Riley extended an offer sheet to Odom, knowing full well that the Clippers couldn’t (or wouldn’t) match.

And Lamar Odom joined the Heat after signing a deal for six years and $63 million.

Odom would go on to play for just one season with Miami. The team was rebuilding after Mourning’s absence but had a young core of their own that included Grant, Odom, Caron Butler and a rookie they selected in that year’s draft by the name of Dwyane Wade.

It was Wade’s brilliance during his first year, even propelling the team into the playoffs, that prompted Riley to build the team around him. In the summer of 2004, he pulled off one of the biggest trades in franchise history, acquiring disgruntled Lakers superstar Shaquille O’Neal in exchange for Grant, Butler and Odom, who would go on to win two titles with Los Angles.

Wade and O’Neal would lead Miami to the franchise’s first championship in 2006.

The strange story seemed to have worked out well for both the Heat and Brand, whose career included two All-Star appearances and very good (if not great) production. The team even considered adding him to their roster back in 2013 but he chose to sign with Atlanta, the team from which he just retired.

But the closest he ever came to joining Miami all began with a missed deadline and ended, perhaps as Riley knew it would, just a few days later.

Next: Miami's 2008 Draft, a Pivotal Moment in Team History

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