Digest: Reports -- Brand to 76ers, Stewart leaving JGR

The Philadelphia 76ers have apparently won the Elton Brand free-agent sweepstakes. NBA front office sources told ESPN.com last night that Brand had informed the Sixers that he would accept a five-year deal worth an estimated $82million and spurn what was presumed to be a slam-dunk return to the Los Angeles Clippers to play with Clipper-to-be Baron Davis. The Sixers could not formally sign Brand before midnight, with today serving as the first day NBA teams can officially complete signings and trades after the lifting of a leaguewide moratorium that began July 1. But Philadelphia has secured Brand's verbal commitment, sources said, after first reaching an agreement in principle with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a trade that, according to sources, will send forward Rodney Carney, center Calvin Booth and a future first-round... [read full story]