Elton Brand was always going to be a sought after player once he hit amnesty waivers, and now the Dallas Mavericks will be his new NBA home. The league informed the remaining teams that the Mavericks had lodged the winning bid of $2.1 million and claim the former 76er who was amnestied last Wednesday.

From the ESPN.com report :

The Sixers will still have to pay out the remaining balance of the $18.2 million owed Brand this season in the final year of his contract.

Only teams under the salary cap were eligible to bid on claiming Brand off waivers. He'd have become an unrestricted free agent had he cleared waivers, but the Mavericks were determined not to let the opportunity to claim Brand pass as they continue their recovery from missing out on top free-agent targets Deron Williams and Steve Nash.

The Mavericks have rallied this week to add Brand, former All-Star center Chris Kaman and starter-level point guard Darren Collison all on one-year deals, enabling Dallas to preserve maximum salary-cap flexibility for the summer of 2013 and their planned pursuits of stars such as Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.