Iverson to Detroit for Billups,McDyess

[BiGrEd819]

in a basketball standpoint, the trade makes a lot of sense(somewhat risky) for detroit and not much for denver. financially, it make A LOT of sense for BOTH teams. denver was not gona go far into the playoffs with just iverson, and what's the point of paying 20 million in lux tax if the team could do the same with a cheaper salary role by dumping camby's 10 mil contract and trading away 3rd highest contract in the nba to detroit. In terms of Detroit, allen iverson is on his last year of his contract and that is why i say this deal is SOMEWHAT risky and actually not so risky because even if the AI experiment fails this year he becomes a free-agent the following season and on top of that detroit will have 4 expiring contracts by 2010. This would give them plenty of salary cap space for the wonderful 2010 free-agent pool and everyone knows what's available in 2010...

[Andrew]

Odd that the NBA isn't allowing it this time when they've allowed it so many times in the past but as drama said, it's not really the most pressing issue. In any event, Yahoo! NBA has posted some pictures of Iverson wearing his new jersey.

[Andrew]

Billups will reportedly wear number 7 in honour of John Elway.

[Billie]

yah, but 21 was the first one posted in yahoo sports..but 7 is better..

[stratjim]

watched the celts dismantle the pistons last nite. my observation is the pistons are going nowhere this year. neither sheed nor rip can create their own shot and need a pass first point guard to set them up, not ai. sheed and ai combined for 0-11 in the 1st half.

[benji]

And in a year where Prince finally found out how to score...

I've never really seen how this is going to work, and still don't. If Iverson uses fewer possessions (Billups level), he's not efficient enough to be out there. And if he doesn't, he gums up the balanced offensive attack.

I mean this in the context of the defense being in the gutter so far this season. (Epic lulz at Devin Harris.)

[shadowgrin]

I can't believe it. The Pistons traded away a good player along with Billups and McDyess.

Still, Dumars is a genius.
He knows that the Detroit championship and contending team he built were an exception to the trend of winning championships since it didn't have any potential HOF calibre players but instead were built around a solid starting five and sound coach. With Ben and Brown gone, he knows he can't have the same results from the pieces he has left.
So he gets a HOF level player and if the AI experiment doesn't pan out, Joe D can go right to rebuilding mode with ease if he lets go of AI and Sheed's contract.

To benji, think of the LeBron sweepstakes scenario! Isn't the thought of Amir Johnson having LeBron as his sidekick enticing?

Trading Marilyn Monroe for Jane Russell. That's not bad," Brown said. "Joe knows what he's doing, and I'm happy Chauncey's going back to Denver and his family is there."

Damn, Larry Brown is old.

[Andrew]

Iverson's reputation is probably going to take a bigger hit if the experiment doesn't pan out since Dumars has the luxury of long term as well short term. If by some chance the Pistons win it all or perhaps even if they come close, Joe D can say they had one last stab at glory and now move forward in better position to make a run at LeBron and co. If they fall short, they still move forward with the same benefits leading up to the LeBron sweepstakes.

On the other hand, Iverson is going to be labelled the gamble that didn't pay off, which isn't fair but he's not likely to have that luxury of redeeming himself in Detroit if this season doesn't go well. Whereas Dumars could end up having made a risky move that ultimately benefits the team a few years down the road, Iverson would always be the trade that blew up in their faces and the guy who didn't get the job done, at best a transitional move that facilitated bigger and better things...assuming of course that the Pistons fall short and Dumars can work some magic with AI and Sheed's contracts off the books.

[benji]

Dumars loves taking risks with no real short-term downside. Iverson puts the team over the top, or he's got tons of space with Iverson and Wallace.

My comments earlier are just that I don't think it will make the team better this year however. But I always like cap space.

[NovU]

Short term downside would be failing to make playoffs if it ever happens. AI just isn't a same player he used to be. It almost seems like his stats come at the expense of games now days no matter wherever he plays. Philly is back on track w/o him and Denver seems to be doing better and Pistons seem to be in shitty trouble unless something magical happens. Well, it's too early to judge but it seems like the pistons will not do much better than past few years at best and that is with a HOF caliber player. As much as I rooted for AI, I get to think that he was overrated by many people. What good is it how much of a great stats he puts up when they can't translate to wins.

[Oskar]

Short term downside would be failing to make playoffs if it ever happens. AI just isn't a same player he used to be. It almost seems like his stats come at the expense of games now days no matter wherever he plays. Philly is back on track w/o him and Denver seems to be doing better and Pistons seem to be in shitty trouble unless something magical happens. Well, it's too early to judge but it seems like the pistons will not do much better than past few years at best and that is with a HOF caliber player. As much as I rooted for AI, I get to think that he was overrated by many people. What good is it how much of a great stats he puts up when they can't translate to wins.

They can't translate wins ? Differently from majority of the people, I say that AI is far from a cancer and he DOES get wins. 50 last season with Nuggets, yeah, I know, a lot of talent around, but still. He has always gotten alright winning percentages.

[Mirkwood]

Denver:
They lost a superstar, but I think they won this trade. Denver hasn't had a good point guard since Andre Miller. Chauncey Billups can create points for Melo, Nene and JR plus he's also a good scorer. Denver also has a deep bench in wings (JR, Kleiza and Dahntay Jones), so I think they will be much better now.

Detroit:
Allright, Allen Iverson can make 25.pg and he also has Sheed, Rip and Prince. (all +15pg.). Still, Billups was the guy who made the plays. Iverson is more an shooting guard. Who will bounce the ball up the court? Stuckey? ok, he's good but still a bit too young. AI will make points, but a team with this many All-Star caliber players? I bet someone will leave next offseason.

= Denver wins. GO NUGGETS!!!!!!

[Oskar]

Mirkwood, that's funny. Iverson can pass the ball real good, and he can have 9+ dimes a game. You're saying like the only thing he could do is score, well, you haven't seen his game, I guess.

[Mirkwood]

OSKAR

I have seen him play and ok, he can pass (6 apg), but with a team that has so many good scores........

If he can raise it up to 9 apg, then I'm happy

[Oskar]

So many good scorers ? Hamilton, Sheed and Tayshaun ? They're all good scorers, right, but let's take an example of.. hmm, well, I can't really name one right now, but you see, AI can dish it to them when they will score, but he can score when he can score, so you're not exactly right. His teammates get to score and it's a whole different scenario than it was for him and the whole team back in Denver.

[sdot_thadon]

I think what he's getting at is AI is not a traditional point guard, and this is true. But he has passing ability that gets overlooked, his problem has always been the same as any high volume scorer: get his without disrupting his teammates' games.

[GuCcI08]

AI led his sixers team to nba finals. so don't be surprise if pistons make it to nba finals.

[Alejandrov011]

But it happened 8 years ago...

[Andrew]

Short term downside would be failing to make playoffs if it ever happens. AI just isn't a same player he used to be. It almost seems like his stats come at the expense of games now days no matter wherever he plays. Philly is back on track w/o him and Denver seems to be doing better and Pistons seem to be in shitty trouble unless something magical happens. Well, it's too early to judge but it seems like the pistons will not do much better than past few years at best and that is with a HOF caliber player. As much as I rooted for AI, I get to think that he was overrated by many people. What good is it how much of a great stats he puts up when they can't translate to wins.

That's not exactly fair. The Sixers have made a few moves since trading him and the Pistons have only played a couple of games with him, winning their latest one with AI scoring 30 points. He only had one full season in Denver and they won 50 games in one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive, playoff races to date. Whether he's a good fit in Detroit is yet to be seen and he hardly guarantees a championship but I think he has plenty left in the tank, far from being a team cancer.

[NovU]

Wow. It seems like Denver's actually winning with defense and not with offense now. Chauncy Billups actually brought defense culture to the team while the Pistons compeletely forgot how to d. Amazing how the point guard completely changed the whole culture of the team overnight. I think Denver is likely to become a new powerhouse in West replacing Mavs in near future.

[Andrew]

The Pistons aren't doing too badly either. They're tied with Orlando for the third best record in the East and have a better record than all but two teams in the West. They also ended the Lakers' winning streak with a rather impressive win last week.

[mvpshaq32]

Iverson is at it again...

Pistons guard Allen Iverson missed practice on Thursday and will face a "hefty" fine, according to coach Michael Curry.

"I'm surprised when guys are late; I'm surprised when they don't show," Curry said. "It's a pretty hefty fine to be late, or to miss, and once again, it's accountability for yourself and your teammates."

Rodney Stuckey will start in Iverson's place on Friday against Milwaukee. Curry said he hadn't decided whether Iverson would play.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... _practice/

[bowdown]

Iverson is at it again...

Pistons guard Allen Iverson missed practice on Thursday and will face a "hefty" fine, according to coach Michael Curry.

"I'm surprised when guys are late; I'm surprised when they don't show," Curry said. "It's a pretty hefty fine to be late, or to miss, and once again, it's accountability for yourself and your teammates."

Rodney Stuckey will start in Iverson's place on Friday against Milwaukee. Curry said he hadn't decided whether Iverson would play.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... _practice/

hunger for a championship right there

[Laxation]

Iverson is at it again...

Pistons guard Allen Iverson missed practice on Thursday and will face a "hefty" fine, according to coach Michael Curry.

"I'm surprised when guys are late; I'm surprised when they don't show," Curry said. "It's a pretty hefty fine to be late, or to miss, and once again, it's accountability for yourself and your teammates."

Rodney Stuckey will start in Iverson's place on Friday against Milwaukee. Curry said he hadn't decided whether Iverson would play.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... _practice/

practice?

[Dramacydal]

You haven't even heard the other side of the story yet or matter of fact any part of the story besides that AI missed practice. You don't even know what happened so you better hush.

Anyways, we're talking about practice. C'mon, it's not even a game, just practice.