The president of basketball operations of the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars, is looking to trade for Allen Iverson, currently a member of the Denver Nuggets.The trade would sent Antonio McDyess and Chauncey Billups from the Detroit Pistons to the Colorado Nuggets in exchange for Mr. Iverson.
According to unconfirmed sources, the trade is very close. All players involved where not present at this morning's shoot-around.
It seems that Joe Dumars is insistent on breaking up his team since they lost to the eventual NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
The Pistons did win 59 games last year under Flip Saunders, but Dumars feels he needs Iverson to solidify his team.
A former league MVP with Philadelphia in 2000-01 and nine-time All-Star, Iverson is without peer as an offensive player but off-the-court problems and maturity issues have plagued the diminutive one since he arrived in the City of Brotherly Love from Georgetown in 1996.
Iverson, who will become a free agent in the offseason, will arrive in the Motor City with plenty of defensive-minded players. In fact, Prince and Wallace can be torturous at that end of the floor. But, unlike Snow, Lynch and Hill, the Pistons' big time defenders aren't offensively challenged. Prince and Wallace, especially, need their touches.
Meanwhile, the Pistons already have Richard Hamilton, the game's best player at moving without the ball, at the two spot, meaning Iverson will be forced to take over Billups' role as the quarterback of the team.
A shoot-first guy, Iverson isn't likely to care about getting the ball to his new teammates in spots where they can succeed, something Billups excelled at.
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