Iverson to Go to the Pistons; Billups to the Nuggets

Wow! Rarely are there big names swapped as early in a season as happened today. An agreement has been reached between the Denver Nuggets and the Detroit Pistons to trade Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb. The move comes after a busy off season for both teams.

Financially, the deal favors Detroit. Iverson is in the final year of his contract and is due to make $20.8 million according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Pistons GM, Joe Dumars, pledged to shake up the team after their Conference Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. This move solidifies this promise after the only major change to take place in Detroit this off-season was the replacement of head coach Flip Saunders with Michael Curry.

Iverson's expiring contract comes with two perks as well. Although his character has come into question throughout his career, Iverson should be inspired more than ever to earn a new contract - whether it is for Detroit or any other team. Most people who have followed Iverson's career know that he is one of the few players that play all out every game; so the addition of proving that he is still worth a contract at age 33 could help Iverson turn out a tremendous year.

The second positive aspect of Iverson's expiring contract is that it will free up cap space for the next off-season. Billups' contract stood at a staggering three more seasons, after this one, and totaling $50 million. At age 32, the declining Billups is not worth this long contract. So if Dumars decides not to sign Iverson after this season, he will have freed up half a million dollars over the next four years to help the Pistons re-build their aging roster.

For Denver, this trade was made out of necessity. After unsuccessfully experimenting with the high-scoring combination of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony for almost two full seasons, Denver was ready to move on. Billups brings a true point guard mentality to a team that desperately needs it. Unlike Iverson, Billups has proven to be a team first player who does not demand the ball offensively. Billups also brings a defensive mentality to a team that gave up a staggering 107 points per game last season, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

In the end, this trade will not help either team much this season. The Nuggets definitely got better with the addition of Billups, but the Western Conference has too many teams that are just flat out better. Billups is too old to slow down point guards like Deron Williams and Chris Paul for an entire game and they still do not have anybody who could defend either Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady (unless Anthony starts playing more inspired D). Also, with the loss of Marcus Camby they will have trouble defending big men like Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudamire, and Yao Ming. This trade maybe propels the Nuggets from the eight spot in the West to the seventh, but I don't see them making it past the first round of the playoffs.

For the Pistons, the addition of Allen Iverson is very interesting. Rasheed Wallace was once known for being a cancer for teams - like Iverson - but has become a great teammate since arriving in Detroit. If Iverson can go through a similar transformation, the Pistons will be a top four team in the West. I think, though, that the addition of Iverson is not enough to propel the Pistons back to the top of the Eastern Conference. Iverson used to be an elite player at both ends of the floor but, at 33, can only afford to exert so much energy on defense. Thus, the gain that the Pistons et from Iverson's scoring will be almost offset with the loss of Billups' defense and leadership skills.

The thing I like best about this trade is the buzz that it is creating. After a fantastic season last year, the NBA is starting to get exciting again and a trade like this is great for grabbing the fans' attention early in the season. Although the trade won't really help either team this year, it is always interesting to watch stars in any sport suit up in unfamiliar uniforms.

Sources:

Marc Stein, "Pistons Acquire Iverson, Send Billups and McDyess to Denver," ESPN.com.

"2007-08 Denver Nuggets Statistics," Basketball-Reference.com.