The Philadelphia 76ers made it their goal to bring in some veteran leadership after Jerry Colangelo was hired and he made that his first task. Carl Landry was the only player on the roster above 25 years old until the Sixers recently signed Elton Brand to be a mentor. Brand though, was not the only option the 76ers had in mind for a veteran to bring in as they also reached out to Jason Richardson, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News.
Brand has not yet appeared in a game for the 76ers but he is not on the team for his on the court performance. The 76ers have an extremely young team that had no leaders before bringing in Brand so they signed him so he can mentor guys like Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel who haven't had the guidance of a seasoned veteran.
Brand seems pretty excited about the idea of being able to mentor the young players on the 76ers and he was always Colangelo and Sam Hinkie's first choice but they reportedly reached out to Richardson as well. Richardson, unlike Brand, received a contract this offseason from the Atlanta Hawks to be in training camp with them. After a month though, Richardson announced his retirement and was waived by the team.
Richardson spent the last three seasons of his career with the 76ers but was unable to get on the court much due to various injuries. Richardson played in just 52 games across his three seasons in Philadelphia. The fact that he was unable to stay healthy at the end of his career likely played a role in Richardson turning down the 76ers' offer.
Brand makes more sense for the 76ers in the end anyway as he spent more time with them during his career and he is more capable of playing, should he have to, than Richardson is. Richardson retired out of necessity while Brand retired because he wasn't getting many calls from teams. It always seemed like Brand would come back if someone gave him the opportunity, it truly feels like we have seen the last of J-Rich.
