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July 29, 2010 at 6:32 pm · Filed under NBA News
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
For the last five years, the Detroit Pistons were reliably good, occasionally great and as stable as any team in the N.B.A. But stability eventually lost its luster, and on Monday the Pistons opted instead for spontaneous thrills.
In a risky bid to become title contenders again, the Pistons acquired Allen Iverson from Denver and sent two mainstays, Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, to the Nuggets. Denver also acquired the young center Cheikh Samb in the deal.
”We have been extremely successful for a long time,” said Joe Dumars, the Pistons’ president. ”But I also think along with that comes a little bit of predictability.”
Iverson, Dumars said, will give the Pistons ”a different dimension.”
With a team-first, no-superstar approach, the Pistons won the championship in 2004 and returned to the finals in 2005. Their 284 victories in the past five seasons ranked third in the league. But their core group had aged, and the Pistons were overtaken by superstar-driven teams in Miami, Cleveland and Boston.
After Detroit lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, Dumars vowed to reshuffle the roster.
The summer came and went without a deal, but he got the call he was waiting for last Thursday. The Nuggets were willing to deal Iverson. After a weekend of negotiations, the teams struck a deal at about 1:45 a.m. on Monday.
”Some of these deals you have to strike when they’re presented,” Dumars said.
In Iverson, the Pistons acquired an explosive scorer, albeit one on the downside of his career at 33 and with a checkered reputation. A nine-time All-Star, he has averaged 27.7 points in a 13-year career. He was the league’s
most valuable player in 2001, when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the finals.
Billups, 32, was one of four remaining starters from the Pistons’ 2004 title team, and their second-leading scorer for the last five years. Detroit let Ben Wallace leave as a free agent in 2006. Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Price and Rasheed Wallace are the starters left from a unit that was once considered the league’s best. Rodney Stuckey started in Billups’s place at point guard against the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night, but he will soon hand the reins — and possibly his No. 3 jersey — to Iverson.
The Pistons plan to introduce Iverson at a news conference Tuesday and expect him to make his debut Wednesday in Toronto.
The deal left the Detroit players shell-shocked.
”Do we like the trade?” Wallace asked. ”Maybe not. Ain’t no telling.”
Hamilton, Billups’s backcourt partner for six years, left without speaking to reporters. Prince sounded almost distraught.
”When you’ve had six straight years with somebody, you’ve got that bond and connection,” Prince said. ”And now all of a sudden it’s gone.”
There are reports that McDyess may seek a contract buyout or retire rather than play for the Nuggets. If he is waived, he could potentially re-sign with the Pistons after a mandated 30-day waiting period.
Billups, a Denver native who played at the University of Colorado, will be asked to bring leadership to a young, sometimes-volatile locker room. Billups played two seasons for the Nuggets early in his career.
The trade has multiple benefits for Detroit. Iverson’s $21.9 million deal expires after this season. Wallace, who is making $13.7 million, is also a free agent next summer. If the Iverson experiment works, Dumars can re-sign them both and the Pistons could remain a contender for a few years. If not, Dumars can let them go and become a major player in free agency in 2010, when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, among others, could be available.
Dumars called the cap flexibility a secondary consideration, ”because we wouldn’t have made the trade for a player any less than Iverson.”
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July 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm · Filed under NBA News
Analysis – Can Allen Iverson Restore the Knicks Hope? – News Analysis – NYTimes.com
GREENBURGH, N.Y. Four months ago, Allen Iverson was a free agent in search of a team. The Knicks were weak at point guard, devoid of star power and looking listless after a 32-win season. Yet Iverson never made their call list.
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Allen Iverson at the Memphis Grizzlies’ media day in September. He was waived Tuesday, after playing only three games.
Iverson is once again looking for work, and this time the Knicks appearing more listless than ever seem ready to pounce.
Iverson cleared waivers at 6 p.m. Thursday and became an unrestricted free agent. Publicly, Knicks officials continued to say that the matter was under deliberation.
However, a person with close ties to the team said a decision had already been made. He placed the chances that the Knicks would sign Iverson at a percent in the high 90s and said a deal could be signed as soon as Friday. The person requested anonymity because he was discussing team business.
Iverson, a four-time scoring champion and former most valuable player, has become an almost toxic figure in the N.B.A. No team offered him a contract this past summer until September, when the Memphis Grizzlies, a perennial lottery team, signed him to a one-year deal.
Iverson bristled over playing a bench role and lasted just three games. He was waived on Tuesday. Iverson left the Detroit Pistons on bad terms last spring, under similar circumstances.
Yet the Knicks, desperate after a 2-9 start, appear ready to make him the face of the franchise.
In the comfort of the off-season, team officials convinced themselves that improvement would come from within from a healthy Danilo Gallinari, a developing Wilson Chandler and a stable roster. At the time, Iverson was deemed an unnecessary risk.
The difference between July and November is the difference between hope and despair. The Knicks 1-9 start was the worst in franchise history. Iversons character issues now seem trivial compared with the prospect of a 20-win season.
Team officials held their cards close on Thursday. The teams president, Donnie Walsh, insisted that the matter was still under review, and that he might not reach a decision by the end of the day.
When we make a decision, well let you know, he said after practice. Thats where it is.
Walsh said he had not yet spoken directly with Iverson, nor with team ownership, but indicated that both conversations would be required before making a deal. Walsh is famously methodical in his decision-making process, so it would not be surprising if he took his time.
If there is any urgency, it comes from the schedule. After playing the winless Nets on Saturday, the Knicks face the last two N.B.A. champions Boston at home on Sunday, the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday. They could surely use reinforcements sooner, rather than later.
Its a big decision, so I dont think well rush, Coach Mike DAntoni said. Wed rather make the right decision, and then worry about the other stuff.
Signing Iverson could revive Madison Square Garden and perhaps give the Knicks enough of a jolt to join the playoff hunt.
Iverson would be given only a one-year contract, probably for the veterans minimum of $1.3 million. His signing would have no direct impact on the Knicks plans to pursue a superstar free agent next summer.
But team officials believe that Iverson might provide an ancillary benefit to their 2010 agenda. If Iverson thrives and the Knicks win, the roster could look a little more attractive to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and other marquee players.
With Iverson drawing the attention of opposing defenses, there would conceivably be better scoring chances for Gallinari, Chandler and David Lee.
There would also be some short-term upheaval. Either Chris Duhon or Toney Douglas would lose his starting job. Iverson would also cut into the playing time of Larry Hughes and Nate Robinson. One of those players might fall out of the rotation entirely.
If Iverson shoots at his usual rate he has averaged 22 a game in his career it would surely come at the expense of the Knicks usual go-to scorers. But if Iverson can kick-start DAntonis offense and keep the tempo up, there might be more scoring chances for everyone.
Al Harrington, the Knicks leading scorer, said he had no such concerns.
I dont think hes the A.I. of old I dont know if hed have the energy to take as many shots as he used to, Harrington said with a chuckle. I think if he comes to this situation, hell figure out a good balance, like we all do.
As of Thursday, there were still more questions than answers, and no official word from the Answer himself. Iverson has kept a low profile all week and has not provided any hints through his Twitter account.
Walsh, weary of providing daily updates, said there would be no Internet dispatches from him, either.
Im not tweeting this, he quipped.
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July 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm · Filed under NBA News
US trims roster of candidates for worlds to 15 – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
The United States is down to just two centers, and one of them better pick
it up if he wants to make it to Turkey.
USA Basketball trimmed its roster of candidates for the world championships
Wednesday to 15, a guard-heavy group that features Brook Lopez(notes) and Tyson
Chandler(notes) as its only centers.
Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans(notes), O.J. Mayo(notes) and Gerald Wallace(notes) were cut”and
Lopez might have joined them if not for his 7-foot frame on a team that badly
needs height.
The New Jersey Nets center struggled last week during training in Las Vegas
as he recovers from mono, an illness that team leadership wasnt aware of before
camp.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he knows he has an awful lot to show
in New York to be under consideration to make this team, but wanted very much to
have that shot and opportunity and were willing to do that for him, USA
Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said during a conference call.
Kevin Durant(notes) leads three Oklahoma City players on the list that included the
Clippers Eric Gordon(notes), who was thought to be on the bubble, plus talented point
guards such as Chauncey Billups(notes), Derrick Rose(notes), Rajon Rondo(notes) and Russell
Westbrook(notes).
The Thunders Jeff Green(notes) will join Durant and Westbrook in New York when the
team reconvenes Aug. 9. The roster has to be reduced to 12 before the world
championships begin on Aug. 28 in Turkey.
The remainder of the finalists are: Lamar Odom(notes), Stephen Curry(notes), Andre
Iguodala(notes), Rudy Gay(notes), Danny Granger(notes) and Kevin Love(notes).
Much like the 2008 Olympic team, the roster is deep in athleticism but short
on size.
Were not just going to produce big guys”we dont have big guys, I mean
a lot of them, coach Mike Krzyzewski said. We have a lot of perimeter guys
and its our responsibility to I mean were not going to pick someone up on
a trade or anything like that. These are our guys and we feel good about them.
The Americans lost one potential center when Bostons Kendrick Perkins(notes) was
hurt in Game 6 of the NBA finals, then lost three more big guys when All-Stars
Amare Stoudemire and David Lee(notes), plus Robin Lopez(notes) of Phoenix, were all forced to
withdraw last week.
That helped Brook Lopez”Robins twin brother”stick when his performance
may not have warranted it. He played only 13 minutes during an intrasquad
scrimmage Saturday, scoring two points.
We do want to see how Brook Lopez looks after two weeks of getting himself
in shape, Colangelo said. He knows he struggled, hes disappointed in his
performance, but he wants this opportunity and when somebody has that kind of an
attitude youre going to give him a little bit of rope.
Evans missed the last few days of practice in Las Vegas, including the
scrimmage, with an ankle injury. Wallace had only four points and no rebounds in
12 1/2 minutes, while Gordon may have clinched his ticket to New York by making
four 3-pointers and scoring 16 points.
Mayo was dropped despite a strong performance in the game, scoring 18 points
on 7-of-12 shooting.
Washington center JaVale McGee(notes), who participated in the Las Vegas camp but
was not on the roster, also wont be coming to New York.
USA Basketball hoped to have at least some of the players from the team that
won the gold medal in Beijing, but all declined to return this summer. Dwight
Howard(notes) was the only true center on that team, but the Americans were loaded with
superstars who overcame that.
The team is scheduled to train in New York from Aug. 10-16, playing an
exhibition game against France on Aug. 15 at Madison Square Garden. The
Americans also will play potentially tough exhibition games in Europe against
Spain, Greece and Lithuania before arriving in Istanbul.
Colangelo said certain players have already been warned they are on the
bubble and need to play well in New York. Though many spots may already be set,
the final decision may not be made until Europe, as the team could head overseas
with more than 12 players.
I think its fair to say that the staff and myself could probably come up
with a solid eight or nine and thats really been the case all week, Colangelo
said. Maybe names have changed a little bit, but we knew it would be a close
call and thats why New York is so important to us before we make our final
decisions and also the probability, possibility that well take more than 12
with us.
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July 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm · Filed under NBA News
Colangelo says Bosh was “checked out” last season – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
TORONTO (AP)”Chris Boshs(notes) former general manager says the player was checked
out late last season and chose not to play some of the Raptors final games.
Talking on radio station FAN 590 in Toronto, Bryan Colangelo said Bosh
wasnt the same player toward the end of the year.
Colangelo said on Mondays show that whether Bosh was mentally checked out
or, you know, just wasnt quite into it down the stretch, he wasnt the same
guy. And I think everybody saw that, just no one wanted to acknowledge it.
Colangelo also asserted that Bosh, LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) all had
planned to play together years ago, even structuring their contracts so they all
could become free agents together.
NBA MVP James and Bosh have joined Wade at the Miami Heat.
Said Colangelo: This has been brewing for a while.
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July 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm · Filed under NBA News
CHICAGO (AP)”Seven-time All-Star Tracy McGrady(notes) worked out for the Chicago
Bulls on Monday with hopes of landing with the team he turned down a decade
earlier.
McGrady could be a low-risk addition for a reconfigured team coming off
back-to-back first-round playoff exits. The Bulls wouldnt have to pay him much
and could refuse to fully guarantee the deal if they make an offer, but there
are big questions surrounding his health.
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July 29, 2010 at 6:31 pm · Filed under NBA News
The Nets may not win the draft lottery Tuesday night, but they will win a championship, according to new owner Mikhail Prokhorov – and soon.
How? By using his charm and a fraction of his $13.4 billion fortune to lure the best free agents – forget about getting LeBron to New York for a moment – to the Garden State.
On the eve of one of the biggest nights in team history, Prokhorov was featured in a video that was sent by e-mail to season-ticket holders predicting a grand future for the Nets, who have a 25% chance of winning the lottery and the right to draft Kentucky point guard John Wall.
Though the team with the best odds has won the lottery just four times in 22 years, that is not stopping Prokhorov from pumping up Nets fans by forecasting a quick and dramatic turnaround from the 12-70 season they just suffered through.
Looking straight into the camera to answer questions sent to him by fans, the Russian mogul, who took over the team a week ago, declares, “If everything goes as planned, I expect us to be in the playoffs next season … and (win a) championship in one year minimum and maximum in five years.”
Prokhorov then says he will tell potential free agent signees, “The excitement is with the Nets. We will have a desire to win that is unmatched anywhere in the league. This will be a first-class organization with all the support it needs.”
On that same topic, Prokhorov leaves little to the imagination while not mentioning LeBron James or any of the other marquee future potential free agents by name, saying, “I can convince the very best of the best that the Nets are the place they want to be.”
At the start of the video, Prokhorov predicts a lot of “twists and turns” along the way. They will begin Tuesday night, when Prokhorov represents the Nets at the lottery. If they win it and draft Wall, they could have the kind of one-two punch – a splashy billionaire owner and an explosive point guard – that could put them near the front of the race to land a top-tier coach and a player like James.
In addition to Prokhorov, the Nets may have something else working in their favor: Based on their history of winning the lottery every 10 years, as they did in 1990 (Derrick Coleman) and 2000 (Kenyon Martin), they are due to get lucky Tuesday night.
A look at whom the Nets would consider at each spot:
At No. 1, Wall is a lock due to a rare and potent combination of “Allen Iverson speed and Jason Kidd size,” according to one local scout who requested anonymity.
Though Wall played just one season of college ball, those attributes jumped out at everyone who saw him play.
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July 29, 2010 at 3:03 pm · Filed under NBA News
My memories of Vic Ziegel?
Read him as a kid in the old Post. Not bad. But as I told Roberta the other day, Vic and I didn’t cross paths very much the last few years.
Which was good – if you know what Vic was like trying to file a column after a Knick game.
But perhaps you don’t. Well, I’ll tell you.
It was torture.
For everybody else.
Actually, the torture started the day before. I’d be minding my own business and Vic would call saying he’d be at the Garden. Then he’d start in with the questions, a zillion of ‘em. Where’s the shootaround? When should I get there? What’s a good angle? What time does the locker room open before the game? When can I get the coach? What about the other coach? And on and on.
After the game, we’d be up in the press room, deadline looming, and like clockwork, the computer problems would begin.
When Vic’s laptop went kablooie, he didn’t take it quietly.
There’d be panic. There’d be yelling. There’d be calls to Bill Gates out in Seattle to come fix his bleepin’ machine.
I was always very happy to see him. He’d always hit me with a funny line. Or six.
Things are seldom what they seem,” he once said, quoting Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.
Not missing a beat, I added, Skim milk masquerades as cream.”
Wow, did that impress Mr. Ziegel!
(Little did he know that wordplay was a favorite pasttime of my original editor, H.B. Lawrence, who beat Vic to City College by 20 years.)
Once, during the Scott Layden years, the Knick GM went off to China on a scouting mission. When he returned, he found his team dead in the water, failing to respond to an embattled Don Chaney, long nicknamed Duck.” In my column I wrote a line about Layden returning after getting the recipe for Peking Duck.
Vic liked that. How do I know? I got an e-mail from him the next day, made up of a single thought.
You wrote the perfect Knick column.”
Since then, I’ve written, I don’t know, a few hundred Knick columns, give or take, and not one e-mail from Vic Ziegel. Not a word!
As far as a batting average goes, that stinks on ice.
But even if I go one-for-a-zillion from here on out, you’re damn right, I’ll take it.
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July 29, 2010 at 3:03 pm · Filed under NBA News
David Lee made it into the conversation for a potential All-Star spot but couldn’t make the final roster.
Lee was not one of the seven reserves named to the Eastern Conference squad Thursday for next month’s All-Star Game in Dallas. The Daily News first reported Lee’s omission from the team early Thursday morning on its Web site.
“It’s disappointing but it’s more motivation,” Lee said Thursday night. “Everybody that made it is very well-deserved and having a great season. I thought I had a good chance but it didn’t work out that way.”
Lee is putting up All-Star caliber numbers; he entered last night’s game averaging 19.4 points and 11.4 rebounds, but ultimately the Knicks’ losing record (18-27) appeared to play a major role in how the Eastern Conference coaches voted.
The seven East reserves selected were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Al Horford, Boston’s Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, Toronto’s Chris Bosh and Chicago’s Derrick Rose.
“The overall message was that nobody was taken off of a team with a sub-.500 record,” Lee said. “That means one thing: We need to get more victories.”
All of the reserves are from teams that were either at .500 or above going into last night. Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson, who was voted as a starter by the fans, is the only player on the Eastern Conference squad from a losing team.
“If we’re third in the league, he makes it in a heartbeat,” said Mike D’Antoni, who is not permitted to vote for players from his own team. “We started 1-9. It sets a negative tone.”
Lee, Utah’s Carlos Boozer and Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut are the only three players averaging at least 15 points and 10-plus rebounds who didn’t make the All-Star team.
Lee was looking to become the first Knick since 2001 to be selected to the squad. Coincidentally, former Knick Zach Randolph, who is averaging a double-double for Memphis, was selected to his first All-Star Game.
Lee still has an outside chance of making the team if any of the 12 players selected is unable to play due to injury. If that occurs, NBA Commissioner David Stern will pick a replacement.
Boston’s Kevin Garnett returned from a knee injury last week, and Iverson has complained of knee pain in recent weeks. If either can’t play, there is a possibility that Stern would pick Shaquille O’Neal. LeBron James is the only Cavs player chosen so far; O’Neal, who usually provides plenty of entertainment at All-Star Weekend, would be a sentimental pick.
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July 29, 2010 at 3:03 pm · Filed under NBA News
Clippers re-sign Butler – NBA – Yahoo! Sports
LOS ANGELES (AP)”The Los Angeles Clippers have re-signed free agent forward
Rasual Butler(notes).
He averaged a career-high 11.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 33 minutes in 82
games with the team last season. Butler hit 41 percent from the floor, and set a
franchise record with 145 3-pointers.
Im so happy to be back with the Clippers so much unfinished business!
Butler tweeted Wednesday.
He was acquired by the Clippers along with cash considerations from New
Orleans last August for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2016.
Terms of the deal werent announced.
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July 29, 2010 at 3:03 pm · Filed under NBA News
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers have said goodbye to A.I.
Allen Iverson’s second stint with the team he once led to the NBA finals ended Tuesday when the Sixers announced he would not return for the rest of the season.
Iverson has mostly been absent from the team for a month, returning to Atlanta to be with his family as they deal with an undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.
Iverson, who returned as a free-agent to the 76ers in December, has not played since Feb. 20.
“After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply,” team president Ed Stefanski said. “It has been very difficult for Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his career with his personal life.”
The former NBA MVP and four-time scoring champion averaged 13.8 points in 28 games this season. He started the season with Memphis but only played three games before he announced a short-lived retirement.
The 34-year-old Iverson made a tearful return to Philadelphia eager to prove he wasn’t finished after disastrous stints in Detroit and Memphis. He returned to a sold-out crowd dotted with No. 3 jerseys, but he only showed flashes of his former playmaking self when he ruled the NBA as one of the best guards around. He scored at least 20 points six times – including a 23-point effort in a game against the Lakers that turned into a throwback 1-on-1 duel vs. Kobe Bryant.
“Before it was like, give him the ball, everybody spread out and let him do his thing,” Sixers center Samuel Dalembert said. “Now, he’s like, you have to run this, you have to get him involved. He was still learning the offense. There were a couple of games where it was a struggle offensively, but other games he got the feel for it. You got the flash of A.I.”
Iverson said at a Feb. 15 practice that it was emotionally draining to leave his family to play basketball.
“It was tough to leave her and my wife and kids,” Iverson said. “But I do have a commitment and an obligation to be with my team and to do my job. But it is rough. I think this is the only thing I do in life where for a couple hours during the game I don’t think about nothing but (basketball).”
Iverson was hobbled by an arthritic left knee and constantly needed it drained. He usually walked gingerly around the locker room after games. His dwindling production didn’t bother his fans – Iverson was voted an Eastern Conference All-Starter, though he did not play.
Dalembert, who played with Iverson in both stints, said A.I. was not the same player who once terrorized the opposition. But Dalembert also noticed a more reserved, humbled Iverson who just wanted to fit in instead of dominating the ball or making splashy headlines with controversial or selfish actions.
“He was focused, he was being a leader,” Dalembert said Monday night. “It was a completely different Iverson. The role we needed him to play, he was doing it. He understood what he needed to do for the team and he came in and did it.”
The Sixers have been awful with or without Iverson. They are 22-37 after a 126-105 loss to Orlando on Monday night. They were on a nine-game losing streak when Iverson made his debut on Dec. 7.
Now, the global superstar who popularized “talking about practice,” might be talking about retirement. This time for good.
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