Just two games into the Detroit Pistons’ season, Pistons president Joe Dumars made a drastic change to the look of his team. In a trade that shocked many people in the NBA Allen Iverson was traded to Detroit in exchange for long time Piston Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.
Now if you are either a Nuggets fan or a Pistons fan, you have to look at the ramifications of this trade. If you are a Pistons fan, you can be both excited and nervous. Iverson is still one of the best players in the game today. He can give you 25 points every anight and he has proven himself to have a never-say-die attitude whenever he is on the court.
The concern comes in when you factor in that Iverson still handles the ball most of the time. Yes, he has dished the ball more since he was traded from the 76ers, but in a lot of people’s opinions it is still not enough. The Pistons have had success for one reason: team basketball. Iverson is going to enter an environment where team basketball is strongly stressed. The Pistons have had success not because of one player. They have done it with all five guys on the court playing together. A part of the problem in Denver was that both Iverson and Carmelo Anthony handled the ball the most of the time. It was something that did not really work in Denver, and if Iverson thinks he can do the same in Detroit, the Pistons are going to find themselves in for a long season.
The biggest acquisition in the trade on the Denver side is Chauncey Billups. Billups is a proven winner. Billups comes over to the Nuggets with plenty of playoff experience and a championship ring on his finger. Another positive side of the trade for the Nuggets is that Billups will more than likely help with the continued development of Carmelo Anthony. Billups is willing to pass more than Iverson ever did during his time in Denver, which will give the Nuggets franchise player more cracks at the hoop.
As of press time, Antonio McDyess expressed great disinterest in being traded to Denver. The Nuggets have verbally agreed to release McDyess of his current contract which would make him a free agent.
