(US Presswire)

Elton Brand said his installment of the Sixers "reached our ceiling," believing the team was justified in its decision to break up a team that was one win away from the Eastern Conference finals.

“If we beat the Bulls with Derrick Rose, maybe," said Brand, a starter in Tuesday's meeting between Brand's Dallas Mavericks and his former club. "But I’m a realist. I kind of felt we had reached our ceiling. Maybe we didn’t. They swung for the fences, tried to get (Andrew) Bynum. I like the moves they made."

Brand said it was "hectic" last summer, when the Sixers amnestied the power forward. He cleared waivers and signed with the Mavericks, who are paying $2.1 million for his services. The Sixers are paying the remainder of his contract -- $16.1 million, which does not count against their cap.

“Any time you get a demotion or anything like that, I don’t know," he said. "The word ‘amnestied’ wasn’t ‘cut,’ so it sounded better than that. Any time you get a demotion, you’ve got a chip (on your shoulder). I’m just trying to help my team win ballgames. I’m not looking at stats. We need to win. Sometimes that takes away from the winning formula."

Brand has started 14 of the Mavericks' 15 games, averaging career-low totals of 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Sixers coach Doug Collins, who called Brand "a true professional," said the Sixers "miss his soul."