NBA Free Agency Roundup: Mavs Claim Brand, Houston Makes Moves

NBA Free Agency has seen the majority of the high profile moves for this summer come and go. That doesn't mean that there haven't been a slew of other transactions that could shape the NBA title landscape some next spring. Let's take a look at what happened on Friday.

Dallas finally got the man they wanted, claiming Elton Brand off of waivers with a winning bid of $2.1 million. That money goes to the Sixers who got rid of Brand through the NBA's amnesty clause. The Sixers still owe Brand $18.2 million for this upcoming season, the final one on his current contract.

It was a busy day for the Houston Rockets, as they worked to convince the Orlando Magic to trade disgruntled center Dwight Howard to them directly. They reworked their proposal to the Magic, offering to take on a number of undesirable contracts to free up more cap space for the Magic down the road.

Also, in an attempt to clear cap space for Howard, the Rockets used the amnesty clause to waive forward Luis Scola, who averaged in the neighborhood of 15 points per game for them last season. Similar to the Brand situation, the winning bidders on the waiver wire will be getting a productive piece.

Jeremy Lin has signed an offer sheet with the Houston Rockets for three years and just over $25 million. The deal is back loaded with nearly $15 million of that total coming in the final year of the deal. Knicks fans can expect New York to match the offer because of all of the marketing opportunities that Lin offers them, but are they really sold on a guy who really only played at a high level for a couple of weeks against a weaker portion of the team's schedule? Time will tell.

Houston also offered a three year, $25 million offer sheet to Omer Asik, who was last seen as a backup for the Chicago Bulls.

Chauncey Billups will be returning to the Clippers after re-signing with the club. Billups played well early last year for them before being lost for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon. His leadership, even when injured, was a huge reason for the team's turnaround last year.

The Indiana Pacers re-signed Roy Hibbert and George Hill to help keep last year's playoff squad intact. Hibbert was an All-Star for the first time in his career last season, averaging just under 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. The more that team gets to grow together, the better it will be.

And in perhaps the most hilarious move of the day, the Philadelphia 76ers have signed forward Kwame Brown to a two year, $6 million deal. Considered one of the greatest busts in NBA Draft history, Brown will be looking to turn his career around in the city of brotherly love.