Knee Jerk Reactions to Iverson-Billups

by Rohan on Nov 3, 2008 12:58 PM CST

So apparently Iverson for Billups/Samb/McDyess is very close to being a done deal. Antonio McDyess is involved, but he'll probably end up back in Detroit (after the 30 day restriction) after Denver buys him out. For a second there, I started dreaming a little bit... then I saw that Detroit wanted him back, and that his current contract is in excess of 6 million a season.

Anyways, a few points of instant analysis:

The trade-buyout-resign thing is something the NBA needs to fix. Detroit should not be allowed to get McDyess back this season; it's a ridiculous loophole that's now been exploited twice in two seasons (either K. Thomas or B. Barry did it last year, can't remember which).
Denver can now bench Anthony Carter. I can't begin to describe how big this is.
Also, Denver can now start J.R. Smith. No matter how much we Hornets fans may have despised him, the kid is good at basketball. Billups/Smith/Melo figure to make better starters than Carter/Iverson/Melo.
Detroit will now have 24 million dollars coming off the books this summer (Iverson, Rasheed, Hermann), and will have close to 37 million coming off the books if Hamilton excersises an E.T.O.
37 million dollars. Think about it, that's a lot of money.
It would give Detroit an opportunity to rebuild the team around Stuckey, A. Johnson, and ~~Kwame Brown~~ . Problem is, I don't see a lot of great FA's out there. At one point, 2009 looked like an awesome free agent class. Then Baron Davis, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette all signed long term deals. The chances of Kobe leaving LA plummeted to zero, Artest's chances of going to Detroit were significantly slashed by his trade to Houston, Steve Nash probably was never going to opt out anyway, Jason Kidd sucks... yeah. Detroit would be looking at guys like Lamar Odom, a 31 year old Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and best case, Carlos Boozer.
If I'm Detroit, I love the cap space, but I wait a year until Summer 2010. Yes, my team will probably suck for '09-'10 if Iverson and Rasheed both walk. It'd probably be worth it. I mean, have you seen the '10 FA class?

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Looks like a done deal.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Isn’t AI now redundant with Rip? Aren’t they both 2s? So I’m not sure how great it is for Detroit, unless they have more confidence in their other players that I’m not familiar with. I mean is Kwawe now their starting 5, with Sheed at the 4? Those are the only two guys 6’10" or taller (they’re both 6’11") on the roster. I mean you see Prince play the 4 some, but he weighs less than me, despite being 6’9", so is really more of a 3.

As for Denver, shit, they get Billups, Smith, and Melo at 1-3, which isn’t bad. I guess toss in Nene, Birdman, Kleiza, and now McDyess rotating at the 4-5 spots. I kind of like it.

by m-W on Nov 3, 2008 8:54 PM CST reply actions

Definitely from a Hornets perspective

this is a bad thing, though we’re better than either incarnation Denver. I think Detroit in its current form is done. They’ll have to rebuild this summer or next summer around Stuckey, Prince, and Hamilton I guess.

by Rohan on Nov 3, 2008 9:08 PM CST up reply actions

Detroit Wants Lebron?

What do you think of Wojronakowski’s viewpoint? He asserts pretty strongly that the Pistons did this just to get LBJ in 2010. I think that’s a stupid view, throwing away two years of a team just to take a not sure gamble two years later. Thoughts?

by Junsier on Nov 4, 2008 1:30 AM CST reply actions

Interesting

If Detroit lets Iverson/Raasheed walk (which I’m all but certain they will), they should have 24 million dollars of cap space in that year, give or take a rookie. They’ll need the majority of that money to toss a max deal at LeBron, which means (a) no other FA acquisitions, (b) the draw for LeBron will be Stuckey, an aging Hamilton, and Amir Johnson. In NJ, the draw would be a potentially awesome Devin Harris (who I think will be better than Stuckey in ’10), potentially pretty good Brook Lopez (who will probably be worse than Amir Johnson), an aging Vince Carter.

If the Jay-Z/Brooklyn falls apart, Detroit probably has the advantage, given their recent history compared to New Jersey’s. Probably too early to tell as too many other teams could enter this competition- Chicago could potentially have even more money to spend in ’10, with a core of Tyrus Thomas/Derrick Rose/Luol Deng. At this point, even a team like Portland could enter into this…

I doubt they did it just for LeBron. Sure, he’s one of the targets but so are any of Amare Stoudemire, Dirk, T-Mac, D-Wade, Chris Bosh.

by Rohan on Nov 4, 2008 2:04 AM CST up reply actions

Dumar's did this for 2 reasons

1) Existing roster hasn’t been to the Finals in 3 years. As the East has gotten stronger and the Pistons have gotten older, Dumars knows it’s time to make a change. Might as well change up the dynamic and see if Iverson can work with this squad to go further. If not, no big loss, they’ll land at least 1 major FA in 2010.

2) Billups would have inhibited Stuckey. Chauncey has like another 3 years on his contract (including this year). No way Rodney waits around that long in his wings. Might as well deal Chauncey while he still has value. Big key will be Rodney actually panning out.

I personally like the move for both teams. Denver needed a stabilizing PG and Detroit needed a shakeup.

Btw, I don’t think the Pistons are after Lebron as much as they have a craving for Bosh. Dumars wants to make amends for taking Milicic instead of Bosh. :)

I'm no commie, but the Reds shall be the best again!

by RedHopeful on Nov 4, 2008 1:39 PM CST up reply actions