Kleeman's Jump Hook: Iverson-Philly, the Struggling Suns, Oden, and More

Will Iverson Retire in Philly?

Allen Iverson will make his much ballyhooed return to the Philadelphia 76ers tonight against a former employer, the Denver Nuggets.

He will start in place of the injured Lou Williams. Hallelujah.

His stint in the Mile-High City was a disaster. Will his second stint with his first team be any different than his sour, cancerous turns in Detroit, Denver, and Memphis?

The question isn't whether Iverson can fit into the Sixers offense. It's whether the Sixers can fit into the Iverson offense.

He will control every possession, he will massage the ball until it tires of his rough touch, and he will not provide positive mentorship to youngsters who need to embrace defense and practice.

The Sixers now belong to Iverson. Owner Ed Snider should sign over his controlling interest in the team, Eddie Jordan will lose coaching control, and GM Ed Stefanski will become a spectator more than an executive.

Read Yahoo! Sports NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski's piece on the subject if you haven't.

Philly fans love Iverson, and when the Sixers start losing again, they will blame everyone else before they consider pointing a finger at the Springfield-bound guard. A certain writer on this site wrote a letter to Iverson and opened it by absolving him of any blame in his forced, brief retirement.

Iverson can cry all he wants. He can tell fans that he wants to retire in the "City of Brotherly Love."

The gullible fans, susceptible to his charms and the power of his awesome talents, will buy it.

The reasons he's getting little love outside of Philly are obvious. Iverson still considers himself the game-changer who scored 48 points in a 2001 NBA Finals shocker.

Before September, 30 general managers disagreed with the egomaniacal guard's assessment of himself. The Memphis Grizzlies signed him to a one-year deal to boost stagnant ticket sales, not for his hoops faculties.

In the process, owner Michael Heisley may have destroyed any hope his franchise had of significant improvements this year.

With an embarrassing average attendance of 12,000, one of the lowest in the league, I do not doubt the Sixers inked Iverson for the same reason.

He will perform tonight in front of many adoring fans who still see him as a top-five talent.

That sums up why Iverson spells trouble for the slumping Sixers. He's a performer and a convincing actor, but he breaks his promises as often as Bill Clinton.

Maybe Snider should hire the former president to coach this squad. Two epic hypocrites would prove a match made in heaven.

The Sixers may win the next two contests, coincidentally against the Nuggets and Grizzlies, on adrenaline alone.

Iverson will score with ease and dupe Philly fans the way he did Motown and Mile High followers.

Once the perturbation wanes and Williams returns, familiar botherations will resurface. His demands will crush chemistry, his refusal to play hard in practice will trickle down the roster, and the Sixers defense will continue to rank amongst the 10 worst in the NBA.

The Sixers are a one-dimensional team with a brackish halfcourt attack. When they can't run, they stand still.

Andre Miller's departure has handicapped the mediocre defense worse than anyone thought it would.

Iverson will help the Sixers score more points, but he won't make Andre Iguodala a better player. Iguodala, contrary to what TNT analyst Kenny Smith might think, cannot improve Iverson.

Not without a championship ring that commands respect from a title-less star.

As long as Philly is winning, Iverson will play nice. If the losses mount, this mercenary mission will end like the Bay of Pigs invasion.

I still think the Boston Celtics should give it a whirl this spring. Just because Danny Ainge passed once doesn't mean he will say "no" again.

Teams can begin trading free agent acquisitions Dec. 25. Non-guaranteed deals become guaranteed Jan. 10.

After those two marquee dates, contenders will know if Iverson could help their cause. B/R colleague Andrew Ungvari shares my same opinion . 

One reason the Celtics second unit caved to the San Antonio Spurs' reserves Thursday night: the lack of a true point guard behind Rajon Rondo.

Dejuan Blair and George Hill helped erase much of Boston's big lead. Without the reserve brigade's heroics, the Spurs might have lost by 20.

If Doc Rivers fit Stephon Marbury into his lineup without incident last spring, couldn't he do the same with Iverson?

Marbury was far from spectacular, but he did not cause an implosion or any noticeable strife.

Remember how he brought the Celtics back from a double-digit fourth quarter in Game Five against the Orlando Magic?

Iverson could do that a lot for the Celtics. How would opponents stop a second team with Rasheed Wallace, Iverson, Eddie House, Glenn "Big Baby" Davis, and Marquis Daniels?

As Ungvari noted, contenders can sign Iverson for less money after Jan. 10. His salary would be less of a hit to payrolls way over the luxury tax.

A lethal scorer and gritty competitor for less than $1 million? Sounds like a winner to me.

The Celtics title window is shrinking, and capacious financial commitments to Kevin Garnett and Rondo may force Ainge to let Ray Allen sign elsewhere next summer.

The best the Sixers can hope for, even with a productive Iverson, is a first-round exit. Is a playoff sweep worth the coming headaches for Stefanski and Jordan?

A few quandaries would be worth Rivers' and Ainge's trouble if Iverson helps deliver banner no. 18.

Philly is not the answer for Iverson. I suggest the guard acquaint himself with the Dropkick Murphys' song, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston."

A stint in Beantown may be Iverson's only chance to end his career in style, with the ring that would repair his blemished reputation.

The No Surprise, Ice-cold Suns

The Lakers' 108-88 trouncing of the overrated Phoenix Suns Sunday night does not spell doom for the rest of the Western Conference.

The Lake Show is still beatable. The Suns are still a gimmicky also-ran with no title shot.

Why did it take observers so long to uncover this fraud?

When Alvin Gentry's squad raced out to a 6-1 start, with five early road wins, hoops hounds bought Suns stock like it was going out of style.

Phoenix lost its style and relevance when the Grizzlies donated Pau Gasol to the Lakers. I know a Bernie Madoff clone when I see one.

Channing Frye, the starting center, is softer than Charmin. Amare Stoudemire still suffers from on-court ADD. It doesn't take much to distract STAT from his defensive duties.

He gets bored easily, and he does not tap into his marvelous offensive arsenal as much as he should. I still contend he could be the most unstoppable force in the league.

Name another player at his size with range that extends beyond 20-feet and athleticism that suffuses Julius Erving's flare with David Robinson's vertical leap.

Steve Nash can take the occasional charge, but his defense is deplorable. In a battle with a parked car, I would bet the house on the parked car. Seriously.

With Shaquille O'Neal no longer clogging up the middle, the fun-and-gun Suns are free to run, run, run without hindrance.

Unfortunately for Gentry, the title competition has improved by leaps and bounds. When Phoenix won 17 games in a row in the 2006-2007 season, the starting point guard for the Lakers was Smush Parker and the best player on the Celtics was Al Jefferson.

Kwame Brown and Wally Szczerbiak played important roles on those squads, too.

The Suns can bring in whomever they want in free agency. They're not going to beat the Spurs when it counts.

Nash is Tony Parker's whipping boy, and Tim Duncan serves as Stoudemire's clutch superior. GM Steve Kerr traded away the few ballers who played a modicum of defense to the Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat.

I should write the following prediction in pen. The Suns will beat the Lakers in one of the remaining two meetings between the squads. The Celtics will clobber the Suns in Phoenix.

The Suns may beat the Spurs once or twice. They might edge the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic in a contest.

Anyone surprised by the Suns' Hollywood stumble needs new glasses. They are not elite.

Blazers' Big Loss Kills Already Slim Title Hopes

Greg Oden will likely miss the rest of the season with a broken patella, an injury suffered in Saturday's win over the Houston Rockets.

As if the Rockets needed another reminder of their own missing-in-action center.

Brandon Roy won the game with a tough reverse lay-in, stealing back what would have been a gargantuan addition to Houston's list of impressive road victories. The Blazers' superstar erased what would have been the first game-winner of Luis Scola's NBA career.

If Nate McMillan needs consolation, the coach on the other bench Saturday knows how to deal with undeserved cruelty.

What Oregonian columnist John Canzano wrote about Oden after the game sounds a lot like what Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice has often said of Yao Ming.

Oden seems like a good guy who wants to meet the lofty expectations showered on him as a top pick.

When a foot injury ended Yao's season in 2008, he spent the two days after the announcement apologizing to everyone he could find in or near the Toyota Center.

Reports from Portland suggest Oden has done the same thing.

I still remember that fateful day. The Rockets had won 10 games in a row, but Yao had played poorly in two of the previous three games. Jonathan Feigen, the Chronicle's Rockets beat writer, responded to fan queries about Yao's struggles in predictable fashion. 

"He's human," Feigen said of the center.

No one outside of the organization could have anticipated that a fracture would terminate Yao's season.

What a blow to the gut.

I feel for Blazers fans as much as anyone can.

The Blazers were not championship material before Oden's injury. Now, down a promising big body, McMillan and Roy must keep Portland afloat in the West playoff race.

Oden averaged four fouls for every three buckets, a testament to his still primitive offensive game. He had, however, upped his rebounding totals and become more assertive as a rim protector.

The Blazers expect Oden to be ready for training camp in 2010. The Rockets expect the same with Yao.

Ouch.

Contenders or Pretenders?

The Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, and Atlanta Hawks hope to join the Lakers, Spurs, Magic, Cavaliers, and Celtics as legitimate championship hopefuls.

All three teams have shown in the last three weeks why a Finals berth seems like such an iffy proposition.

The Nuggets lost at home to the dreadful Minnesota Timberwolves, the Hawks rolled over at home against the three-win New York Knicks, and the Mavericks lost at home to a Golden State Warriors team with six available players and an absent head coach.

The Memphis Grizzlies drubbed the Mavs last week.

The aforementioned contenders can drop these duds thanks to championship moxie. Those who have proven it in the Finals can get away with inexplicable regular-season no shows.

I don't need to say anything more about the Hawks, Nuggets, and Mavericks. You get the point.

Here's hoping they do.