Sat, 11/14 Bulls vs Sixers

For years, Bulls fans debated whether the team should have ever gotten rid of Elton Brand, the top pick of the 1999 draft. After Brand averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in each of his first two seasons, the Bulls traded him for draft rights to Tyson Chandler.

Now in Philadelphia, there are questions about whether the 76ers should have acquired Brand. He signed a five-year, $80-million deal to jump from the Clippers to the Sixers in 2008.

The problem is Brand missed all but eight games in 2007-08 with a torn Achilles tendon, then played in just 29 games last year for Philadelphia because of a shoulder injury.

He's off to a slow start this season, averaging 9.5 points and 5.6 rebounds - about half his career totals. Heading into Friday's game against Utah, Brand had sat out the entire fourth quarter in four of the previous five games.

"Of course, I'm a realist, I understand," Brand told Philadelphia reporters on Thursday. "You sign a big contract, you expect big numbers. If I go out there and dominate, you have to play me (in the fourth quarter)."