Elton Brand Thinks New Mavs Can Match Dwight Howard and Deron Williams


You can excuse Dallas Mavericks fans for not exactly jumping for joy heading into this season – a haul of Darren Collison, Chris Kaman, O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand doesn’t exactly generate the same sense of triumph that Deron Williams and Dwight Howard would have. But according to Elton Brand – who has adopted a similar stance to his boss, Mark Cuban — the new guys are just as good (collectively) as those two other superstars, who ended up elsewhere. Per the Dallas Morning News: “Brand, who openly admitted that he has something to prove this season, was asked about being part of a group of newcomers — which includes Darren Collison, Chris Kaman and O.J. Mayo — that some will expect to fill the void left after the franchise didn’t land Williams or Howard. ‘Those guys are two very big names, superstar players,’ Brand said. ‘I don’t think one player can match what they’re doing. Maybe we’ll have to do it by committee and be solid all-around team and play our roles, these new guys. You say Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, I know we as a team, with the pieces we’ve put together, I feel we could match or get close to matching what they would’ve brought. But individually, I’m not Dwight Howard any more.’”