The Hoop and The Harm

In case you missed it, Allen Iverson is headed back to the Eastern Conference. The Nuggets traded Iverson to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, in return for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

Iverson, the 2001 NBA MVP, was traded for the second time in three seasons. During the 2006-07 campaign, the Nuggets acquired him from Philadelphia in a deal for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two first round draft picks. Although he may not be the same player who famously crossed up Michael Jordan a decade ago, A.I. still brings his trademark fire and intensity, as well as the third highest scoring average in NBA history, behind only a couple of guys named Jordan and Chamberlain.

This is actually the second time that the Pistons were involved in trade talks for Iverson. Back in 2000, Detroit and Philadelphia agreed on a deal that would have sent A.I. to Motown in a four-way deal. However, the deal was nixed by, of all people, former Sixers center Matt Geiger. Geiger’s contract had a clause calling for him to receive a $5 million bonus if he was traded. Geiger, predictably, refused to forfeit this bonus, and so the blockbuster trade never happened. It turned out to be a good thing for Philadelphia, as Iverson had his finest season in 2000-2001, leading the team to the conference’s best record and the NBA Finals, as well as winning that season’s MVP award.

This is a homecoming for Billups, as he grew up in Denver and went to college at the University of Colorado. This will be Billups’ second stint with the Nuggets. Chauncey previously played for the team from 1998-1999. He also played for the Celtics, the Raptors, and the Timberwolves before signing with Detroit in 2002. This is the fourth time Billups has been traded in his career, more than any other NBA Finals MVP in history. Also, this is the first time that a former Finals MVP has been traded for a former league MVP since the 1985 trade that brought Bill Walton to the Celtics for Cedric Maxwell.

Like Billups, McDyess has also played for Denver before. Although he was drafted by the Clippers, McDyess spent his first two seasons in Denver. After a year in Phoenix, he returned to the Nuggets, where he had his best seasons, including his only All-Star invitation in 2001. Following an unsuccessful stop in New York and a brief return to Phoenix (both stints plagued by injuries), McDyess spent the past four seasons as a member of the Pistons, helping the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals each of his four seasons in Detroit, including a trip to the NBA Finals his first year in Motown.

The final part of the deal, Samb has played in only 4 NBA games and is not expected to have an immediate impact for the Nuggets.

So what does all this mean? For the Nuggets, the trade brings them a ‘true’ point guard, one who will set up his teammates rather than look for his own shot, as Iverson has a reputation of doing. Billups also improves the Nuggets defense, which has long been their weak spot. Finally, shedding Iverson’s salary was important because before the trade, Denver was over the salary cap limit, meaning they would have had to pay a luxury tax. As for the Pistons, after losing in the Conference Finals three straight seasons, Iverson might be just what they need to get them over that hump and back to the Finals. He also gives the team a true #1 scoring threat, which they haven’t had since they dealt Jerry Stackhouse to the Wizards for Richard Hamilton in 2002, back when a certain Washington executive was apparently trying to acquire every former Tar Heel in the league.

Finally, there has been a lot of talk about Detroit making this deal in order to clear cap space for 2010 (Iverson’s deal only runs through next season). Don’t be mislead. Pistons GM Joe Dumars has repeatedly shown that he doesn’t intend to win two or three years down the road, he intends to win now. Acquiring Iverson should go a long way in helping his team do just that. As for the Nuggets, don’t expect too much. The West, of course, is loaded, and this team is going to miss Marcus Camby no matter who is running the point. Detroit might not make it to the Finals, but at least they should get to the postseason with no problem. Denver might not even make it that far. Which would probably cost George Karl his job, but that’s another topic for another post.

Friday night and monday night were two big games for the Blazers. First Zach Randolph and the Knicks and then Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets.

The Knicks, who are having a terrible season, pushed the Blazers into uncomfortable territory. Having fallen to ninth in the Western Conference, the Blazers could ill afford to lose. Their victory in overtime was followed by a big sigh of relief from the Blazers faithful who have seen a team that won eighteen in the month of December stumbling in January. On Monday, the Blazers continued their inability to win two in a row this month.

Although Monday’s was a much better game than Friday’s the Nuggets are a team that the Blazers need to beat. Especially at home, if they have any hope of making the playoffs. The upside to Monday: the Blazers started crashing the offensive boards and LaMarcus Aldridge failed to show up, the upside to LA not showing up is that next time these two teams play, if he gets more than four points, the Blazers will probably win.

Coming down the stretch the Blazers will be competing with the Nuggets for the seventh or eight playoff spot, and with no more head to head match-ups left, this game may turn out to be one of the most important of the season.

Yesterday on Full Court Press, they were discussing their top 12 players in each conference THIS YEAR. Not to be outdone and because their lists sucked, I have decided to throw my two cents in. This is not an actual all-star team list, as I’m not basing it on picking a team or by position or any of that bogus nonsense. That would make too much sense. This is just a straightforward list of my top 12 players in each conference so far THIS YEAR. Let’s start with the east.

In no particular order:

Bron Bron
D-Wade
Jermaine O’neal
KG
Paul Pierce
Chauncey Billups
Michael Redd
G-Force
Dwight Howard
Caron Butler
Jason Kidd
Joe Johnson

And now the West. Again, in no particular order:

Nash
Kobe
Chris Paul
Dirk
Tim Duncan
A.I.
Melo
Yao Ming
Amare
Baron Davis
Deron Williams
Chris Kaman

I know there’s a few left off that have deserved it in years past(I’m lookin at you T-Mac), but they just haven’t really done it for me this year. Injuries also played a part in this(Did Arenas retire?) So, there you have it. I’ll compare this to the actual all-star roster when it’s announced. Should be interesting to see what top players are left off because of their position.

Let’s start with the Pistons at the Heat. Both teams will be shorthanded. The Pistons short two rookies in Rodney Stuckey and Amir Johnson with the Heat going without star Dwayne Wade. The advantage here has to go to the pistons. If you look at the history of this match-up, the only way the Heat wins is on Wade’s shoulders.

I’ll take the Pistons 93 - 84 over the Heat in both teams season opener.

Next up, Houston at Utah. Utah was the surprise team last year and with the great play of point guard Deron Williams it is hard to pick against them. Houston is always a threat to blow away the competition with the McGrady/Yao combo and the rest of the team looked pretty good against the Lakers on Tuesday. This one should be a great game and come down to the wire. Look for turnovers to make the difference. Williams know how to take care of the ball but my gut is telling me that McGrady down the stretch will prove too much for the Jazz.

In an overtime thriller I will go with the Rockets 107 - 105 topping the Jazz.

In tonights final game the highly entertaining Suns will be traveling to Seattle to take on rookie standout Kevin Durant and the SuperSonics. All conventional logic says this one is a no brainer. The Sonics are young and inexperienced and the Suns are one of the top 5 teams in the league. Seattle looked pretty good at times against the Nuggets who are also one of the top teams this year in my opinion but they couldn’t hang on and they are playing for the second night in a row while Phoenix is on fresh legs with this being their season opener. Steve Nash will be impressive as always and will end up with double digit assists and Stoudemire will pull down 12 boards to go with his 23 points. You would have to be crazy to think Seattle has a chance. Well I have been called it before and it doesn’t bother me. The Seattle crowd should be crazy with their first look at Durant and we saw last night he is not afraid to shoot. I can’t imagine him not improving his percentage.

With a breakout performance from Durant and emotion from the crowd, look for 30 plus points and 12-15 boards in a 113 - 105 upset special Sonics over the Suns.

Brendan Howe can be reached at hoopsbrendan@yahoo.com