Pistons trade Billups/McDyess/Samb for Allen Iverson

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

Anybody know if AI will be in uniform tonight @ Charlotte?

[Fool]

Mo this only helps our post game. Sheed paint points <<<<< Iverson paint points.

Yes Rip won't have the curls as much any more but he didn't have those to a great extent in Washington and did just fine. They are his staple, they aren't his only ability. He will get plenty of midrange jumpers off AI drives. Sheed should get dump off 3s from AI as well.

We just went from a team who couldn't drive the lane last year to a team with AI, Stuckey, Tay, and Valter with at least some ability to drive the lane (if Curry does continue to use Tay in that fashion as in the first game).

If this deal works out to a trade of Billups and Samb for AI I'm ecstatic.

[Glenn]

Anybody know if AI will be in uniform tonight @ Charlotte?

Doubt it. With physicals, travel and no practice time I just don't see it.

[Fool]

Denver gets the range and PG they've been trying to get for 3 seasons in exchange for a guy they might have let walk at the end of the season. They did fine in this deal no matter who else the Pistons do or do not give up.

[Cross]

trade sheed and iverson for dwight howard

[Glenn]

or Jamal Crawford

[Glenn]

Fuck, Samb's gone too.

Sources: Nuggets to acquire Billups in agreed-to Iverson trade
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Updated: November 3, 2008, 12:58 PM ET

The shakeup promised by Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars after last season's Eastern Conference finals has materialized just two games into the new season.

The Pistons have reached an agreement in principle with the Denver Nuggets to acquire guard Allen Iverson in exchange for Detroit mainstays Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, club sources told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Young center Cheikh Samb, selected by the Los Angeles Lakers for the Pistons with the 51st overall pick in the 2006 draft, will also be going to Denver in the deal, reports ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher.

The trade has not been finalized, but sources close to the process told ESPN.com that a trade call with the league office is forthcoming to make the deal official later Monday.

Dumars put the entire Pistons roster on notice after they lost to Boston in the East finals, saying that there "are no sacred cows" on his team and vowing to consider trading anyone -- even a major contributor to the Pistons' 2004 title run like Billups -- in addition to firing coach Flip Saunders and replacing Saunders with the untested Michael Curry.

The Pistons could not find a workable deal over the summer, but it emerged then that Billups -- MVP of the 2004 Finals -- was the most likely Piston to be dealt.

With Denver's desire to acquire a dependable point known throughout the league as well, Dumars has moved quickly to strike this deal with the Nuggets, who acquired Iverson from Philadelphia shortly before Christmas in 2006 but failed in two attempts to get out of the first round with a three-man core of Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby.

Camby was jettisoned to the Los Angeles Clippers in a straight salary dump in July for luxury-tax purposes. After playing sparingly in the preseason, Iverson was stripped of his captaincy last week and averaged just over 13 shots per game as the Nuggets opened with a 1-2 mark.

The Nuggets will be hoping now that the homecoming Billups, a Denver native who starred collegiately at the University of Colorado, meshes better with Anthony, given that he's more of a natural point guard than Iverson. Yet there is some risk for the Nuggets, since Billups is 32 and has three more seasons left on his deal after this one, with the four years totaling in excess of $50 million.

The Pistons, meanwhile, will undoubtedly contend that their risks are mitigated by the fact that Iverson, who turned 33 in June, is in the final year of his contract at $20.8 million.

Dumars loves to gamble on players who possess the sort of pluses and minuses Iverson does, as seen with the trade-deadline acquisition of Rasheed Wallace in 2004 which spurred Detroit to its first championship since Dumars was playing in 1990. If this gamble doesn't work, swapping Billups for Iverson would give Detroit financial flexibility to pursue a more aggressive makeover next summer, with the highly regarded Rodney Stuckey staying put as the long-term cornerstone of the Pistons' backcourt.

[WTFchris]

My responses in bold:

So basically Moodini, Atticus and I are the only ones who don't like this deal? I feel like you guys are talking yourself into liking it.

Iverson's game is very much isolation. He can beat almost anyone off the dribble. It opens up the lane for people to slash in and get some easy buckets. However, the only one that will benefit from that is Amir, as he will be getting the garbage points.

Max gets this same benifit.

Sheed, love him or hate him, is a guy who likes to take his time in the post, making fadeaways or other post moves. Or he sits outside and chucks 3s. This will not benefit him.

Sheed will benifit from AI's game. Instead of rushed 3's he'll have open looks from his man collapsing on the dribble from AI. That's why Manu, Horry and Bowen can stand out there all day because Parker draws double teams. Also look at the season JJ had before going to Atlanta with Nash attracting people in the paint.

Rip loves to come off screens and hit midrange shots. He is most effective on curls. Iverson will not help with his game.

I agree, AI will not benifit RIP. It also won't hurt him. AI can make those same passes off the curl that Billups did.

Tay is also a guy who is best with his back to the basket. He will only benefit by getting more three point attempts.


And let me say this: I like Allen Iverson's game. I like him as a player. He's the quickest player in the NBA since Isiah. But I don't like him for this group of Pistons.

What about letting AI walk and getting Boozer and Felton to replace him? The knock on Felton is that he's a great passer but a marginal shooter. he needs a team where he can just distribute and not worry about scoring (we have lots of options here and Stuckey is clearly a shoot first guard).

[MoTown]

Mo this only helps our post game. Sheed paint points <<<<< Iverson paint points.

Yes Rip won't have the curls as much any more but he didn't have those to a great extent in Washington and did just fine. They are his staple, they aren't his only ability. He will get plenty of midrange jumpers off AI drives. Sheed should get dump off 3s from AI as well.

We just went from a team who couldn't drive the lane last year to a team with AI, Stuckey, Tay, and Valter with at least some ability to drive the lane (if Curry does continue to use Tay in that fashion as in the first game).

If this deal works out to a trade of Billups and Samb for AI I'm ecstatic.

Don't get me wrong, I hope to God I'm wrong about this. And I'm excited about seeing Iverson in a Pistons uni. I just don't think this trade made the Pistons any better. I sure as hell don't see the Pistons living up to the usual standard of losing in the Eastern Conference Finals.

[Cross]

Glenns just a hater.

and im pretty sure boozer would be asking for something close to a max contract. a boozer sheed front court would be as good as a jamal/stuckey backcourt.

and felton as a backup pg? sounds good