NBA Post-Ups: Iverson Traded To Detroit and Other News

It happened fast.

The rumors were barely a day old. The Denver Nuggets traded Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheik Samb.

Iverson packs up his high energy, volume shooting offensive game and brings it to the defensive-minded Detroit Pistons.

Former Nugget Billups brings his leadership and all-around clutch game back to Denver in a move to get George Karl a team that can get beyond the first round of the play-offs this year.

Samb is a throw in and it is rumored that McDyess is unhappy and might be bought out. Denver is saying they definitely want McDyess to come and play for them. 

On Celtic message boards, visions of McDyess are already dancing in Celtic fans' heads. Antonio played for Ainge in Phoenix in 1997-98, and Danny has tried to acquire him for Boston before. He would be a perfect fit in Boston, if a rumored Denver buy out of his contract occurs.

First Things First

At first glance, the Pistons traded away Mr. Big Shot for Stephon Marbury Lite.

But wait. The ramifications are deeper than the immediate transfer of existing talent.

There is the immediate impact...and there is the future.

For Detroit:

For the Pistons, it is a roll of the dice on Iverson, but it is also about the Benjamins down the road.

1) They finally break up the team as Joe Dumars had promised he would after their lost to the Celtics in last year's play-offs.

2) They get a one year trial with a selfish 33 year old Hall of Fame bound scoring machine and minute eating, high mileage warrior. I admire his courageous, energetic offensive game and competitiveness. But his teams must always adapt to his 'ball monopoly' style, never the other way around.

We will find out how that works in a previously team oriented offense like Detroit's.

3) Detroit comes out $17 mil to the good in reduced contract commitments as Allen Iverson has one year left at $21,937,500. They traded away $25,250,000(4th year team option not included) in guaranteed money to Billups and $13,826,100to McDyess.

4) It frees up playing time for youngsters Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell. They are Detroit's future, and it is betting on them becoming frontline players they have the potential to be. There is always Kwame Brown, too.

5) With Rasheed Wallace coming off the books next season, and only $16 mil committed for the all important 2010 free agent class auction, potential suitors, like Detroit, are cleaning up their roster commitments as we speak. Rip Hamilton and Amir Johnson would be expected to be re-signed. 

6) Dumars said he will use Iverson as both point and shooting guard, so Rodney Stuckey and Iverson could be used together in the backcourt.

Update - One article is reporting Rip Hamilton just received a $34 million, three year extension to his current contract. That locks in a key piece with still plenty of money for free agency in 2010.

Motherlode of free agent classes

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudamire and Chris Bosh will all be on the hunt for the best situations for themselves in 2010. LeBron James is, without a doubt, the Holy Grail. More than a few franchises are reshuffling their rosters for a potential LBJ payday.

But current favorites, New Jersey and New York have a few road blocks to get around. New Jersey's planned move to Brooklyn looks more distant now and New York has yet to devise a clear strategy for 2010.

For the Nuggets, well...

It seems a bit riskier. They are rolling the dice that this trade puts them in contention for a deep run in the play-offs...now and next year.

If this move brings them a trip to the NBA Finals, and that MUST be the goal, it will be worth it. If it doesn't, they just undid everything they were trying to accomplish by giving away Marcus Camby this summer to the Clippers for a $10 mil. trade exception and the option to switch 2nd round picks. 

They just gulped down the 'financial flexibility' they created, and then some. Without further major trades, this makes their financial bed for at least the next three years, even without re-signing J.R. Smith.

Is a solid, but aging Chauncey Billups really going to be worth that?

The Nuggets upside is:

1) They have two new players that can help them NOW. If they both stay.

2) They have a desperately needed top level point guard, something they've been without since trading away Andre Miller for..... Iverson. Iverson's assists were mostly an afterthought to his own nightly point production. Billups is a better defender, three point shooter, leader and clutch player.

3) It partially takes away the sting of the Camby giveaway and gives them a proven big body who can start or come off the bench, providing McDyess stays.

4) They are a better team with the trade. Does Chauncey give them the leadership to make a deep run in the play-offs? Not if the rest of the team doesn't get much better defensively.

5) J.R. Smith moves up the charts with his explosive scoring ability, so there isn't a big drop off there.

Iverson has always seemed to be but a few selfish steps away from say, Stephon Marbury to me. I know. Iverson at least led a team to the NBA Finals and was part of competitive teams in other years. I'll be interested to see how he and the Pistons adjust to each other.

Chauncey Billups will definitely help the Nuggets, but how much?

McDyess? Well, that could become an interesting side story. Does he end up with Denver, back at Detroit after the allotted time expires, or do the Celtics enter the picture?

Stay Tuned.

Around the NBA Monday Night:

Pistons beat the 'Bob-Cants' 101-83: They didn't need Billups or McDyess to beat a moribund Charlotte "Bob-Cants" team 101-83 as Rip Hamilton led the Pistons with 19 while recently acquired Shannon Brown (!?) led the Cants with 16 points.

76ers pummeled Kings 125-91: It looks to be a long season for Sacramento as the 76ers, the worst three point shooting team in the league last year, rained 3 pointers on the Artest-less Kings, making 10 of 13.

Magic closeout the Bulls 96-93: Early signs are good that the Bulls will play hard for new coach Vinny Del Negro as they almost almost overcame a 17 point 4th quarter deficit in a loss to play-off contender Orlando and are 2-2 to start the year with #1 draft choice Derrick Rose. Orlando has point guard issues of their own.

Grizzlies beat the Warriors 90-79: In a battle of the two youngest teams in the league, Marc Gasol surprised Golden State with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks and Memphis is surprising me. They start three rookies and are 2-2 while playing solid defense (85.3 pts allowed). They are athletic and talented, but I wasn't expecting much this year, because they are so young. Golden State has point guard problems as Marcus Williams is blowing yet another opportunity as undrafted DeMarcus Nelson plays while he sits. Andris Beidrins had 16 points and 22 rebounds for the losers.

Cavaliers slap Mavericks 100-81: Mo Williams led a 13-0 fourth quarter charge with Lebron James on the bench as the Cavs held Dirk Nowitzki to 8 points on the night at home. James scored 29, while Josh Howard led Dallas with 18 and the Mavs were minus 23 with Jason Terry on the floor. 

Jazz Go All Millsap on Clippers 89-73: Paul Millsap scored 15 straight Utah points in 4 minutes and 24 total for the game, as his outburst opened up a large fourth quarter lead over the winless (0-4) Clippers. The Utah Jazz are undefeated (3-0) so far without Deron Williams in the line up. The Clippers have 10 new players and I guess will take a while to get things together. Chris Kaman led the Clips with 19 points and 10 boards.

That's it for NBA Post-ups for Monday's action.  

We now return you to your regular program.