Marc Berman of the New York Post writes: A new era in the Nets' pivot began yesterday as Todd MacCulloch officially became a Net. The Sixers declined to match the Nets' six-year, $34 million offer sheet yesterday for the young, overachieving 7-foot, 280-pounder from Canada who served as Dikembe Mutombo's backup during Philly's march to The Finals.

Philly took the full 15 days to see if it could dump Matt Geiger's contract on an under-the-cap club. Without a salary dump, the Sixers would've gone over the luxury-tax threshold had they re-signed the 25-year-old MacCulloch. In a statement full of praise for the big redhead, Sixers GM Billy King said:

"I let New Jersey know that we will not be matching [its] offer sheet. I am sad because we have invested quite a bit of time and effort into Todd. But I am very happy for him. A lot of players come in this league, get money right away and don't earn it. Todd was under minimum contracts his first two years. He worked extremely hard and is a quality person."

"We are pleased that the 76ers declined to match the offer sheet," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "We will reserve further comment until after the successful completion of the player's physical and the signing of his contract."