Big Trade & Some Injuries
Detroit Gets: Allen Iverson
Denver Gets: Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess & Cheikh Samb
For the Pistons…
Detroit President Joe Dumars is not known for making questionable moves (well, besides Darko Milicic of course) so I was in complete shock when I first heard about this deal. Reason being at first glance it looks extremely lopsided on paper. Not to mention that AI’s style of play is not exactly Piston-esque. (More on that in a bit.)
Then I got to thinking more about it, and it became clear that this was a straight up salary dump, which is still very surprising after only two games. Poor timing aside, I give Joe D a lot of credit for being proactive with his roster. Rather than waiting too long when his “core” was aging and overpaid, Dumars cut his losses early and decided to retool on the fly.
Think about it. Detroit wasn’t going to win the title this year anyway, so why not get rid of two long term contracts for a near $22 million expiring deal? You couple Iverson’s contract with Rasheed Wallace’s $13.7 and suddenly the Pistons cap number this off season is only $38 million. AND the year after that it shrinks to around $27.5 for the summer of LeBron. What makes this move so savvy is that Detroit is still good enough to make the playoffs in the East. So they are in the same exact spot short term but positioned much better for the future.
No matter how they spin it in Motown I fail to see how “The Answer” is going to make the Pistons any better on the court. To paraphrase ESPN’s John Hollinger; it’s not if Iverson will make their offense worse, but rather how much worse. Before you accuse me of being hater, just look at history. AI had ONE magical season and that’s it. Other than that he’s never been a winner. It’s really that simple.
Detroit’s strongest suit was how their ensemble cast shared the ball and no one player was greater than the group as a whole. I know Iverson annually says he’s going to be a “team” guy, but when has he ever walked that walk? To make matters worse rookie coach Michael Curry is going to start Allen at the point. Damnit square peg get in to this round hole! I really can’t see Sheed or Rip Hamilton putting up with AI pounding the air out of the ball night after night when Billups used to set them up so perfectly.
I’m not even mentioning the downgrade on defense that AI is when compared to Chauncey too. It’s all good though because Dumars signed Hamilton to a 3 year $34 million extension the day after the trade. So that should tell you all you need to know about the future of the Pistons SG position. I don’t know what Joe D’s next move will be, but he has plenty of options and I’m sure he’ll have Detroit back in contention before too long without ever missing a post season. Now that’s how you GM!
For the Nuggets…
This trade was an absolute home run for Denver until they decided to release McDyess and buy out his contract. Granted the Nugs are reportedly only going to pay Dyess approximately $6 million of the $13.6 he is owed. This should allow noted tight wad owner Stan Kroenke to keep his club just below the luxury tax line. But c’mon already, Denver could really use Antonio as their first big man off the bench behind the injury prone Nene and Kenyon Martin. If you think I’m exaggerating the worth of Dyess, consider that 19 teams in the league have already expressed interest in his services. (Including Boston & Cleveland but not the Lakers.)
As for “Mr. Big Shot” no one should be happier about his arrival then Carmelo Anthony. No more fighting Iverson for touches for Melo. In fact, Anthony will actually start getting some easy looks for a change in the spots he likes. Two added side bonuses to this deal for the Nugs are that J.R. Smith will see more minutes and Anthony Carter will move to the bench where he belongs.
Billups seemed very happy about coming home (he’s from Denver), and although his skills are slipping some, he’s still got a few years left at a high level. Chaunc gives the Nugs a true PG that knows how to run a team, is a very solid defender and an above average outside shooter. But will it be enough to make the playoffs in the West? To me it certainly gets them a whole lot closer, but without McDyess I still see Denver finishing 9th unless San Antonio and Portland continue to struggle with injuries.
Samb is a project from Senegal, but has shown some ability to block shot in the D-League. He’s long and athletic but rail thin and EXTREMELY raw offensively. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is his last strop in the NBA.
Winner – Denver
> On 11/7 against Miami the NBA leader in scoring and PER, Tony Parker, injured his left ankle and will be lost for two to four weeks. (I’d say closer to four.) This is borderline grave news for San Antonio who sit last in the Southwest Division at 1-4 and are already without Manu Ginobili (left ankle surgery) until late December.
Normally the Spurs would just buckle down and maintain until TP and Manu got back, but this year’s roster is shockingly thin. We’re talking a back court rotation of Jacque Vaughn, Roger Mason Jr., Michael Finley and rookie George Hill. YIKES!
The really worrisome part for SA fans has to be how their Spurs are defending this season. Perennially one of the best squads in the league in this department, SA currently sits 26th in defensive field goal percentage (47.77%) and 29th in defensive efficiency (113.2 points per 100 possessions). Coach Gregg Popovich better start cracking the whip on that end or they might have too big a hole to dig themselves out of when finally healthy.
> On the same night against Toronto, Atlanta’s Josh Smith went down with a sprained left ankle as well. He too is supposed to be out two to four weeks, but I see him back closer to two if not sooner. (J Smoove is a notoriously quick healer.) Look for Zaza Pachulia to move into the starting lineup at center with Al Horford sliding over to his more natural PF spot.
The Hawks depth behind Zaza and Al is suspect at best (Solomon Jones & Randolph Morris anyone?), but in a bizarre twist they should be OK because of their defense. Atlanta has been very impressive early on, obviously more confident after taking Boston to 7 games last April. The Hawks D ranks 3rd right now in both percentage (40.74%) and efficiency (92.6). In fact the ATL has looked so good I’m already wishing I had them 8th instead of 9th in my predictions. (Plus Washington is terrible.)
Denver Gets: Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess & Cheikh Samb
For the Pistons…
Detroit President Joe Dumars is not known for making questionable moves (well, besides Darko Milicic of course) so I was in complete shock when I first heard about this deal. Reason being at first glance it looks extremely lopsided on paper. Not to mention that AI’s style of play is not exactly Piston-esque. (More on that in a bit.)
Then I got to thinking more about it, and it became clear that this was a straight up salary dump, which is still very surprising after only two games. Poor timing aside, I give Joe D a lot of credit for being proactive with his roster. Rather than waiting too long when his “core” was aging and overpaid, Dumars cut his losses early and decided to retool on the fly.
Think about it. Detroit wasn’t going to win the title this year anyway, so why not get rid of two long term contracts for a near $22 million expiring deal? You couple Iverson’s contract with Rasheed Wallace’s $13.7 and suddenly the Pistons cap number this off season is only $38 million. AND the year after that it shrinks to around $27.5 for the summer of LeBron. What makes this move so savvy is that Detroit is still good enough to make the playoffs in the East. So they are in the same exact spot short term but positioned much better for the future.
No matter how they spin it in Motown I fail to see how “The Answer” is going to make the Pistons any better on the court. To paraphrase ESPN’s John Hollinger; it’s not if Iverson will make their offense worse, but rather how much worse. Before you accuse me of being hater, just look at history. AI had ONE magical season and that’s it. Other than that he’s never been a winner. It’s really that simple.
Detroit’s strongest suit was how their ensemble cast shared the ball and no one player was greater than the group as a whole. I know Iverson annually says he’s going to be a “team” guy, but when has he ever walked that walk? To make matters worse rookie coach Michael Curry is going to start Allen at the point. Damnit square peg get in to this round hole! I really can’t see Sheed or Rip Hamilton putting up with AI pounding the air out of the ball night after night when Billups used to set them up so perfectly.
I’m not even mentioning the downgrade on defense that AI is when compared to Chauncey too. It’s all good though because Dumars signed Hamilton to a 3 year $34 million extension the day after the trade. So that should tell you all you need to know about the future of the Pistons SG position. I don’t know what Joe D’s next move will be, but he has plenty of options and I’m sure he’ll have Detroit back in contention before too long without ever missing a post season. Now that’s how you GM!
For the Nuggets…
This trade was an absolute home run for Denver until they decided to release McDyess and buy out his contract. Granted the Nugs are reportedly only going to pay Dyess approximately $6 million of the $13.6 he is owed. This should allow noted tight wad owner Stan Kroenke to keep his club just below the luxury tax line. But c’mon already, Denver could really use Antonio as their first big man off the bench behind the injury prone Nene and Kenyon Martin. If you think I’m exaggerating the worth of Dyess, consider that 19 teams in the league have already expressed interest in his services. (Including Boston & Cleveland but not the Lakers.)
As for “Mr. Big Shot” no one should be happier about his arrival then Carmelo Anthony. No more fighting Iverson for touches for Melo. In fact, Anthony will actually start getting some easy looks for a change in the spots he likes. Two added side bonuses to this deal for the Nugs are that J.R. Smith will see more minutes and Anthony Carter will move to the bench where he belongs.
Billups seemed very happy about coming home (he’s from Denver), and although his skills are slipping some, he’s still got a few years left at a high level. Chaunc gives the Nugs a true PG that knows how to run a team, is a very solid defender and an above average outside shooter. But will it be enough to make the playoffs in the West? To me it certainly gets them a whole lot closer, but without McDyess I still see Denver finishing 9th unless San Antonio and Portland continue to struggle with injuries.
Samb is a project from Senegal, but has shown some ability to block shot in the D-League. He’s long and athletic but rail thin and EXTREMELY raw offensively. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is his last strop in the NBA.
Winner – Denver
> On 11/7 against Miami the NBA leader in scoring and PER, Tony Parker, injured his left ankle and will be lost for two to four weeks. (I’d say closer to four.) This is borderline grave news for San Antonio who sit last in the Southwest Division at 1-4 and are already without Manu Ginobili (left ankle surgery) until late December.
Normally the Spurs would just buckle down and maintain until TP and Manu got back, but this year’s roster is shockingly thin. We’re talking a back court rotation of Jacque Vaughn, Roger Mason Jr., Michael Finley and rookie George Hill. YIKES!
The really worrisome part for SA fans has to be how their Spurs are defending this season. Perennially one of the best squads in the league in this department, SA currently sits 26th in defensive field goal percentage (47.77%) and 29th in defensive efficiency (113.2 points per 100 possessions). Coach Gregg Popovich better start cracking the whip on that end or they might have too big a hole to dig themselves out of when finally healthy.
> On the same night against Toronto, Atlanta’s Josh Smith went down with a sprained left ankle as well. He too is supposed to be out two to four weeks, but I see him back closer to two if not sooner. (J Smoove is a notoriously quick healer.) Look for Zaza Pachulia to move into the starting lineup at center with Al Horford sliding over to his more natural PF spot.
The Hawks depth behind Zaza and Al is suspect at best (Solomon Jones & Randolph Morris anyone?), but in a bizarre twist they should be OK because of their defense. Atlanta has been very impressive early on, obviously more confident after taking Boston to 7 games last April. The Hawks D ranks 3rd right now in both percentage (40.74%) and efficiency (92.6). In fact the ATL has looked so good I’m already wishing I had them 8th instead of 9th in my predictions. (Plus Washington is terrible.)
posted by D$ at 2:38 PM
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