Sixers GM Brand believes championship window is open now

The Philadelphia 76ers made a bold statement prior to the NBA trade deadline, acquiring forward Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers in a six-player deal.

General manager Elton Brand cashed in his most valuable trade chips and is confident in the squad he's assembled.

"We believe we are in position to contend now," Brand said, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "And our moves reflect that belief."

Harris provides the Sixers with a proven scorer and outside threat to compliment young stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. After dealing Robert Covington and Dario Saric in the Jimmy Butler deal, the club needed to bolster its 3-point shooting, as the 76ers rank 15th in the NBA with 11.4 3-pointers made per game.

"We had targeted him as a player we would want if he became available, and we coveted him," Brand said. "We know he fits great into our system and he'll do well."

Harris and Butler are pending unrestricted free agents this offseason, but Philadelphia's ownership is willing to commit the funds to keep the core together. However, with no guarantees for the future, Brand feels his team's best shot at a title run could come this season.

"(Simmons and Embiid) rapidly improved over the last season, so the window is now," Brand said. "The opportunity is now. So, once I saw that, we discussed taking a shot at it now, because who knows how long that window is going to be open?"

While the Sixers have a formidable starting five, Brand knows his club's path to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2001 won't be easy after the Milwaukee Bucks added Nikola Mirotic, and the Toronto Raptors acquired Marc Gasol at Thursday's trade deadline.

"It was an arms race," Brand said. "Teams were trying to get better. I think four of the best teams are in the Eastern Conference. They wanted to get better and I'm glad we took a shot to get better early. We'll be prepared."