updated 1:44 p.m. ET July 1, 2008

The Los Angeles Clippers want to keep Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, each of whom has opted out of the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent.

As soon as the pair made their intentions known, team president Andy Roeser said the Clippers will be aggressive in trying to convince them to stay. He also said the team will be contacting other free agents.

Brand, the longtime star who appeared in just eight games last season because of a knee injury, has said he intends to remain with the Clippers. He had $16.4 million left on the contract he signed in 2003.

Brand spent most of last season recuperating from a ruptured Achilles tendon he hurt last August. He has averaged a double-double, 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds, during his nine years in the NBA.

“It definitely doesn’t mean I’m leaving the Clippers,” Brand said, ESPN reported Monday night. “We’re trying to work it out. My intention is to stay.”

Maggette, who was due $7 million, led Los Angeles in scoring this past season with a 22.1 average. He has been with the Clippers since the 2000-2001 season, longest of any current player.

The Clippers extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Nick Fazekas and Marcus Williams, so the team retains the right to match any offer sheet the players sign with another team. But Los Angeles did not give a a qualifying offer to Shaun Livingston, a guard who sustained a major knee injury in 2007 and just recently was cleared to play again.

Roeser said the Clippers are optimistic that Livingston will return, but that they want to monitor his progress in coming back.

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