This headline photo was taken nearly two and a half years ago. Flash forward to yesterday and Elton Brand is now the new general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s surprising to see Brand, an in-house candidate, win the job over guys such as Gersson Rosas and Justin Zanik from other NBA teams and other internal candidates like Ned Cohen and Marc Eversley. Brand was the GM of the Delaware G-League team (now the Blue Coats) last year. He has the least amount of experience as a front office exec.

With that lack of experience, people are mixed on the hire. But folks really seem to like Brand, which helps. And the last time I checked, he doesn’t have burner Twitter accounts. That’s a big plus. I personally wanted Rosas or Marc Eversley (if they went the internal route).

Brett Brown had his media luncheon yesterday after his coaches clinic on Monday and mentioned a GM would come soon. He also wanted it to be a partnership, which it sounds like it will definitely be. Kevin will have more from the luncheon later today, including the 150,000 shots Markelle Fultz took over the summer.

But for now, take a listen to the latest edition of the Crossing Broadcast.

The Roundup:


The Eagles needed some wide receiver help with Mike Wallace potentially done for the year. Then-former Eagle Jordan Matthews worked out at the team facility yesterday:

I said “then-former Eagle” because the team officially announced they’ve signed the veteran and put Mike Wallace on IR. With that, there’s three Birds on Injured Reserve (Wallace, Mack Hollins, and Richard Rodgers). Two guys can come off the list and return to play, which means somebody’s season is done. Rodgers could be the odd man out if there’s a chance Wallace can return, especially with how much Josh Perkins we saw on Sunday.

Could we see Jeremy Maclin back too?

The team also brought up running back Josh Adams to the active roster and waived wide receiver DeAndre Carter. That sounds like Jay Ajayi might not be ready to go for the Colts game on Sunday.

Both coordinators spoke yesterday, with Jim Schwartz hoping the defense can fix their mistakes and Mike Groh hopes to get Dallas Goedert more involved if he can get open.

Finally, there’s an open spot on the practice squad with the Cardinals planning to sign Joe Walker.


The Phillies are still playing baseball! And they took home a big 5-2 win last night over the Mets.

The Phils scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth, including a three-run home run by Jorge Alfaro to give the team the lead. Aaron Nola had a short no-decision start, going 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs off six hits with nine strikeouts.

With the win and a Braves loss to the Cardinals, Atlanta’s NL East lead is down to 5.5 games. The Phillies and Mets play once more tonight at 6:05 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Zach Eflin will get the start.

Also, Rhys Hoskins has reportedly signed with agent Scott Boras.


The Flyers won their preseason rubber match over the Islanders last night in a 5-1 decision at the Barclays Center. Alex Lyon was taken out of the game early with an injury, but Anthony Stolarz finished very well in goal.

The Orange and Black will play their next preseason game tonight against… New York. But the Rangers! Some variety!

As for the training camp roster, the Flyers assigned Morgan Frost and Isaac Ratcliffe to their junior teams.

Carter Hart’s first appearance with the Flyers on Monday night could be the start of something, and it could be pretty soon.

Hart played about 30 minutes and had 11 saves in relief of Michal Neuvirth, who played the first period and a half.

Indications are that Hart will enter the season as the third goalie in the Flyers’ system, with Brian Elliott and Neuvirth expected to start on the NHL roster. Which means he’ll be in Lehigh Valley — at least for a few months.

Nevertheless, he’s made an impression thus far in camp and should stay around for a while as the team cuts down its roster.

“Carter continued doing what he’s done through camp,” Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said after the 3-1 win. “He’s been pretty consistent and neither guy had a ton of work tonight, but they both went out and did their job and Carter much the same he’s not an overactive guy in the net, especially for a young guy he is very calm and doesn’t make anything look too difficult because he is settled and really good and sound and I thought sound, sold performance for him.”

I need this:


In other sports news, Tom Brady nearly retired this offseason just to get away from Bill Belichick.

Antonio Brown might not like Pittsburgh. Go get him Howie.

FedExField is a god damn joke.


In the news, there’s an alligator on the loose in Mullica Township. That could be a problem.

Tesla is now part of a Department of Justice criminal probe, thanks to Elon Musk’s tweets. Never tweet.

Stormy Daniels. That’s all. Honestly, screw this entire saga already.