After all the talks, the trade has finally materialized. Denver has sent Allen Iverson to Detroit Pistons in exchange for 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheick Samb. Chauncey Billups is a Denver native and will surely be welcomed by the Denver Crowd. Allen Iverson, on the other hand, would add something to the Pistons that they never had before. McDyess would be expected to be waived by the Nuggets.
Personally the trade is beneficial to both teams in different ways, but honestly I hate to see Billups go. I’m a big fan of Billups ever since he has arrived to Detroit and I feel he is a special guard in this league. I’m sure Denver would benefit a lot from him as he’s more of a natural point guard and can definitely mesh up with Carmelo Anthony and the young and talented Nuggets squad. He still has 2 years in his $46 million pact signed 2 years ago. Allen Iverson, meanwhile, is on the final contract of his $20+ million. This is a big gamble on the part of Joe Dumars as he feels that now is the time for the Pistons to give it all, after losing last year against the Boston Celtics. Had this plan backfire, they have a lot of options since they can clear out a lot of cap at the end of the season, giving them a chance for a makeover.
I just can’t imagine Rip Hamilton and AI at backcourt. We all know AI is a shooting guard and although he averages over 6 assists in the past few seasons, it’s still unseen if he can work on a structured-offense driven team like Detroit. For Billups, its interesting to see how plays there for the second time. Sure, the first time he played there was a crap but that seems to be ancient now. Billups has improved a lot since then, won a championship and had a Finals MVP Trophy.
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I understand how you feel with Billups. These four guys (Billups, Prince, Sheed and Rip) have been together for such a long time, it’s always weird to see them in a different uniform. But as cliché as this may sound, it’s a business. I understand why the Pistons did it.
What irks me is that Dyess is walking away from the Nuggets, that doesn’t feel right to me.
And I also really dislike the fact that just because the Pistons haven’t played that well with AI, people are so quick in writing them off. How can people do that already? It takes time to adjust to a player like Iverson. People should relax a little, and we should have a long look in December to see where this ballclub is heading this season.
(glad you’re back at blogging again)
Yeah I agree. All these people just now say “I told you this is not gonna work” and it pisses me off! I mean lets see how Iverson fares after the All star break as Im sure there is something the Pistons have gained in this trade.
Two games, both not very well timed with the trade. It’s WAY too early to tell almost anything from these two games. If anything, what we can tell is that our (Detroit’s) offensive system just got a whole new arsenal of weapons. There’s so many angles to hit the opposition from, we have versatile players in a deep, talented backcourt.
The problem I still see with the pistons is there lack of ability to stop penetration. Harris demolished AI friday, and once he got to the basket, there was no big men preventing the layup.
i agree. chauncey has been with the pistons for so long! i hate to see him leave, but i think AI will be an interesting asset to the team.
[...] am a long time fan of Billups and I really felt sad when Detroit traded him. Billups said to have turned the Nuggets into playoff hopefulls to contenders this season. [...]