Why the Charlotte Bobcats Should Sign Allen Iverson

I know what most people are saying about Allen Iverson. Stick a fork in him. He's done. He has a bad attitude. He is unwilling to accept his skills have diminished.

I can't argue with most of that. He is at the end of his NBA career. No doubt. His small frame played too hard and took too much of a beating the first 10 years in the league for him to continue to play at the level that he expects of himself. But I still think he can play at least this year and probably next, but for who?. Right now there is only one team that makes sense: the Charlotte Bobcats.

Give me a second to put my Hubie Brown hat on...okay ready.

So you're the Bobcats. You are a 3-7 team filled with overpaid role players. You have no shot at winning the title this year or in the foreseeable future. You play decent defense but have more trouble scoring than the Cleveland Browns (okay that might be a little harsh).

You struggle to fill the seats because you are not a good team or have anybody worth watching. You just acquired Steven Jackson which makes you a little better at scoring and a little interesting, but still pretty boring. Enter Allen Iverson.

So where does Iverson fit in? Well he could come in and start, not only to make him happy but also allow Steven Jackson to move to his natural three position. Their lineup is now Felton, Iverson, Jackson, Wallace, and Chandler. They can bring Diaw, Murray, Augustine, and Mohammed off the bench. Suddenly you have a competitive team with a little bit of depth.

It can work. Iverson will be comfortable with his former coach Larry Brown and can serve to a mentor to Charlotte's one young asset in D.J. Augustine. The last three spots in the East will be wide open. I'm not going to make any predictions, but I do know with Iverson they would be better and at least have a chance at the playoffs. Something no one could say at the beginning of the season.

So again, Iverson is not going to make Charlotte an NBA title contender. But really how many teams are? I would say seven at most. But what Iverson does do it give the Charlotte fans a reason to go to the games and makes them competitive. They won't be great, but they will definitely be interesting.

And in the NBA, if you can't be great, well then you might as well be interesting.