Mile High Hijinx

Reports are swirling today which state that Allen Iverson has (finally) been traded to the Denver Brawlers for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round draft picks in 2007.

This saga has drawn out for two weeks, but hasn't seen enough interest around the NBA to really create a frenzy of high-stakes bidding. However, Denver was forced to act more urgently and perhaps give up a little more in the aftermath of the great New York Rumble (N.B. The fight footage begins at 1:25.) because they have lost the league's leading scorer (AI is second) Carmelo Anthony until January 20 due to his best Ali impersation (the 'hit and run' punch; watch him scamper away) resulting in a suspension. With their next best option J.R. Smith, he of the numerous bad shots per night, also out, the Nuggets have had to secure Iverson in order to stop the watershed of a potentially disasterous next ten games without their stars.

Of course, from a Philadelphia standpoint, this isn't as bad a trade as some (including me in the "I'm Out" post) had feared. Miller has been a solid point guard for a long time, and will hopefully encourage Andre Iguodala to become less timid as a scorer now that Iverson isn't demanding that he be given room to bounce around on drives and make insane lay-ups over 7-foot giants. Joe Smith has never been a risk-free proposition as the Timberwolves well know, but he is essentially a dead weight with a contract in this deal. Also, the two picks give the 76ers three first-round selections in next year's Draft, which is anticipated to be the deepest since 2003 and 1996; this also includes the team's own pick, which is likely to come as they finish as near cellar-dwellers, thus giving them hope at landing Greg Oden.

Denver makes a great move to make them legitimate Finals contenders. Iverson is obviously a scoring phenomenom, and has shown that - despite what his old reputation might have been - he can play as point guard, having averaged 7.3 assist per game this season. He provides an elite 1-2 combo with Carmelo, allows J.R. Smith to develop in the third option role instead of having to carry too much of a burden, and gives the Nuggets a more flexible team as he can play shooting guard with Earl Boykins at point (in the world's smallest lineup) to create a lightning fast and exciting new possibility in the new Small Ball world. The X-factor he brings, too, is that Iverson has just been through two weeks of being an inactive piece of trade meat who, it seems, no one really wants. That gives him something major to prove; consider how Gilbert Arenas has tried to show Team USA wrong for leaving him out of the recent campaigns, and then imagine AI - he of the career 28 points per night average - wanting to demonstrate to the entire league that they just missed acquiring one of the most unique and unstoppable scoring threats in basketball history.

Leaving aside the fact that Kevin Garnett is arguably the biggest loser in this deal, as he continues to stew in a cesspool of mediocrity with an ever-fading glimmer of hope that he will get near an NBA championship, this is a very smart trade for Denver and hopefully can help them recover from the damage that Mardy Collins and Isiah Thomas helped to inflict with their dirty tactics of fueling a brawl in a supposedly professional sporting environment. And the Sixers may have sold the house for chump change, but at least they did it with a enough credible returns that you don't draw blood while scratching your head.

I'm out

"Breaking news: Allen Iverson wants to be traded, and the Sixers want him gone."

This seems like a storyline I've heard. In fact, I've heard it during every NBA offseason for what seems like the last five years. But apparently, this time they're serious. Like they weren't when they tried to ship him after he beat his wife, or when he failed to turn up to practice, or when he was unable to work with Larry Brown (who won a championship a year after being forced out of Philly)?

For the good of basketball, I hope that Iverson can be traded to a team where he can exhibit his rare skills as a lightning fast scoring machine. The early rumblings of a deal to get him on the court with KG in Minnesota would do wonders for both players, who each dream of having capable teammates, and would give hope of repeating successes like that of the Shaq/Wade and Shaq/Kobe combinations. Of course, the loser will be Philadelphia and its hapless sports fans - who can't catch a break when it comes to their teams - as they give up their franchise player and will be left with a potential star like Devin Harris, Randy Foye or Al Jefferson who isn't ready to take over alongside the wilted Chris Webber and Andre Iguodala, who is a perfect third piece in a Phil Jackson triangle offence but who may never be any more.

Let's hope AI can get a deal, and can return to peak form in a new city. But also, let's hope that the Sixers aren't left without a leg to stand on. As shown by tonight's outing, they don't have many other places to turn when Iverson's gone.