Here are two quotes from an excellent article at SI.com by Paul Forrester:
Turn and face the strange changes in the NBA – Paul Forrester – SI.com:
5. The Pistons have slipped from third in opponents’ field-goal percentage last season to 25th. How they’ve done it: By playing for cap space. Allen Iverson is many things, but he is not a point guard — at least not in the Chauncey Billups sense of the term. In trading for A.I., Detroit didn’t so much improve as deceive — with the hope that Iverson’s high-scoring exploits will keep the Pistons competitive enough for their fans while opening up a potential $20 million in salary-cap space next summer. But the deal robbed the Pistons of one of the game’s better defensive points and replaced him with one of the biggest gamblers on D
Turn and face the strange changes in the NBA – Paul Forrester – SI.com:
3. After starting the season 1-3, the Nuggets have won 10 of 13. How they’ve done it: With a good trade and good health. Billups may not be a better player, pound-for-pound, than Iverson, but he is better for this team. “They’re playing less freelance basketball and playing more in the halfcourt,” a scout tells SI.com. That means an attack that is no longer the league’s fastest (Denver ranks sixth), but it has placed a premium on execution.
I love Allen Iverson. He is a rival to Kevin Garnett for both my affection and the title of ultimate warrior. Both leave it all on the floor every time out.
So it pains me to see the impact of the Iverson/Billups trade on their respective teams. That trade and the Clipper’s acquisition of Zach Randolph from the Knicks have the same root problem:
The NBA ain’t fantasy basketball!
A fantasy general manager with the pre-trade Clippers roster or the pre-trade Piston roster would be drooling at the prospect of acquiring Randolph or Iverson.
Mike Dunleavy and Joe Dumars shoud know better!
Nolaman's NBA Musing 