Grading The NBA's Biggest Trade Of '08-'09

Tristan Thornburgh — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:47:53 -0500

With the NBA trade deadline come and gone with no blockbuster trades having been completed (as a Blazers fan, the Michael Ruffin acquisition didn’t exactly blow my mind), the best trade to analyze is the Detroit-Denver trade involving Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups.

Granted, this trade happened at the beginning of the season and hindsight is always 20/20, but while the two players seemed comparable at the time, any NBA fan that follows the player’s should have been able to realize that Joe Dumars was an idiot.

Iverson, 33, is in the 12th season of his career while Billups is just a shade younger at 32 in his 11th season and the career statistics of the two favor Iverson, who averages a career 27.1 points per game, while Billups’ career average is just 15.1. The two shoot a similar career field goal percentage and Iverson’s career assists are higher. The career statistics, however, don’t reveal the current value of a player.

In his prime during the 2000-2001 MVP season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Iverson averaged 31.1 points per game and led his team to the NBA Finals, an impressive feat by anyone’s judgment.

But since, Iverson statistics have steadily declined in every category, save for one season of averaging 33 points per game. In addition to this, Iverson’s continued off-court issues have sparked reason to deem him “The Problem,” as opposed to “The Answer.”

verson’s criminal history includes Possession of Marijuana, alleged Domestic Abuse and numerous run-ins at nightclubs to couple his continued squabbles with coaches and loose lips that have cost him so much money.

As Iverson’s infamous fallout with 76ers head coach Larry Brown that produced the fabled “Practice?” conversation indicates, Iverson’s relationship with authority is not a good one.

In addition, Iverson suffered various injuries throughout his entire career and while his young physique could take it (he is certainly one of the league’s toughest players ever in this regard), his recent back injury demonstrates that his body can no longer compete at the level he once did.

When trading for Iverson, Dumars saw a 10-time All-Star who could score and provide leadership for a team whose chances for repeating an NBA Championship with the same core group were slim to none.

Iverson’s scoring ability and swagger helped make him a more household name, and for this reason, fans (who choose the starters in All-Star games while the coaches choose reserves) picked him to start in every All-Star game since 2000 except one.

Iverson certainly provided a fresh face and changed the offense, but the Pistons lost the veteran leadership of Antonio McDyess as well as Billups in the trade, an often-overlooked aspect.

And while Dumars clearly ignored his off-court problems when trading for Iverson, the numbers indicate a steady increase in productivity for Billups and decline for Iverson.

Since the ’05 season, Iverson’s points per game total has dropped every year from 33.0 to the current 18.7 while assists have dropped from 7.2 per game to roughly 5.0. Billups, on the other hand, has upped his points per game from 16.4 in 04-05 to almost 19 per game this season and has achieved higher assists since his '04-'05 season every year.

But more than the “on-paper” comparison comes Billups’ contribution as a continued hard worker and reputation as “Mr. Big Shot,” a player who can score when it’s needed most.

It’s no surprise that Pistons are 24-28 since trade, while the Nuggets are 37-19 and lead the Northwest Division. And while Iverson’s playing career as a prolific scorer is incredible, it’s clear that Iverson’s continued quest for an NBA title that he so openly vies for most likely won’t ever happen.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Tristan Thornburgh

Grading The NBA's Biggest Trade Of '08-'09