Wonder what number he's going to use. He can't use#3 because that's Demarr Johnson's and you can't change numbers mid-season.
Andre Miller comes close to that huge contract/over the hill description. He's a number 3 guy at best and making about $9 mill a year. King had better options, at least early on. A good GM makes the deal happen. King scared off suitors by asking for the moon early on, and teams backed out of the running. He broke deals. He was left with Denver. After the suspensions, Denver was at its most desparate, yet the deal that goes through was the same one already on the table before. King is a fool. He could have gotten the Celtics pick instead of two low-end first rounders, but he was stubborn about Green/Jefferson. He could have worked to use Charlotte as a third party (they were interested in that even after the direct deal fell through) to make sure he cleared serious cap space, but didn't make it happen. He's a limited, short sighted, and sometimes moronic GM, and this was the obvious result. Iverson gave them pretty much the same hopeless cap situation, two picks that will *hopefully* become rotation players, and an overpaid and average point guard. Kudos. Evan
Actually, that should be the best time to face the new Nuggets. AI will have been "the man" for 10-12 games and then Carmelo comes back and they won't really know how to play together yet. That game could actually be ugly for them - especially against a defensive team like the Rockets.
Really?...and just what team will be willing to take an injured TMAC and the next 3 years of his huge contract off our hands? Hate to say it, but TMAC (bad back and all) is ours for the next 3 seasons unless he retires early and accepts a buyout. The best bet is for him to play as he did the first month of the season as playmaker first, scorer second...and hope he can play at about 85% healthy for the bulk of the season and playoffs.
can we grab Miller from philly somehow??? He seems to be an above average 3pt shooter,and shi assists # are pretty good
Evan, you're assuming that the Celtics would have given up an unrestricted first round pick. That almost never happens. There's no way anybody would have taken Webber with a year left on his contract after this season. They could also trade their lower first round picks on draft night. Plus, they have Webber's contract next season. I don't think King is done dealing yet... What was Charlotte offering? If he let a good deal fall through just because Iverson was whining about not wanting to go to Charlotte, then King really is dumb...
It's not really clear he let a good deal fall through as much as Charlotte, correctly, likely wasn't willing to pull the trigger without assurances from Iverson. In either case, I'm with the moronic trade club on this one. Especially if you consider the Sixers really haven't improved their cap situation all that dramatically. Forget about all the stuff he may due from now out that can help the cap because King could do that regardless. The only way this deal will ever go down as an okay deal for Philadelphia is if they really do get the number one pick, they choose Oden, and he is the next coming of Wilt.
I know AI is great and all. But from the 76er games I saw, boy does he ballhog. Maybe I shall use some other word than "ballhog", but he demands the ball ALOT! And he does not give it up until he is forced to. I don't know how he will mesh with Carmelo but believe me it won't be rosy. Besides, AI has been in the East all along. Show him some tough west!
Didn't Webber get his old number mid-season? I know Antoine Walker and Al Jefferson did it mid-season. They can probably petition the league to allow it. If not they can just cut Johnson.
It's hard to tell how he will mesh with Denver. You're analysis is right....BUT, looks who's been on the Philly teams. The East may have sucked, but AI actually took a team that relied heavily on Eric Snow and Aaron McKie to the NBA Finals...that, my friend is ridiculous. AI on the Olympic squad wasn't nearly as much of a "ballhog" as in Philadelphia. And the dude does still rack up assists (though I guess he should since otherwise the ball is always in his hands)
Charlotte called off a deal to bring in Iverson that was basically done after his agent called and said he'd be "unhappy" if he went there. They were still talking with Philly as a third party facillitator if the right deal came along. I understand that picks are going to be protected, and especially this year no one would offer an unprotected pick. However, a good GM gets things done. Compromise and agree to take Green or Jefferson (or both) off the table if the pick is only protected at #1 (or top-3 if you have to negotiate down). Boston is under pressure to switch from a youth movement to win-now. Pierce is kicking their door, so are the fans. Celtics today are sitting outside the lottery, and they're not likely to end up with anything better than the #5 to #8 pick. To them, Iverson was worth trading the pick. But King wanted the pick, Green, and Jefferson. That was asking too much and it fell apart. The Kings backed out because he demanded too much. So did the Heat. King managed to lose suitors with his negotiating "skills" In my eyes, that single Celtics lottery pick is more valuable than a #21 and #27 (Denver picks - projected). Trading up in the NBA draft is tougher than in the NFL. Getting a star is what teams want on draft night, not rounding out depth with more picks. You're right - getting rid of Webber would have been a tall order. But if you're not losing him, there's no point whatsoever in trying to help your cap situation with expirings. All I'm saying is, this isn't the best deal out there for Iverson. It's just the best that Billy King could do. Which is typical. He didn't clear significant cap space, he didn't bring back an All-Star or future All-Star, he didn't bring back anything that was going to really help them turn the ship around short-term or long-term. That was a HOF player still producing at his peak. Unbelievable. In short: if you want draft picks, one good one > two crummy ones. If you want to help out your cap situation, you have to go all the way. If you want to get players that can help you, focus on that. King did halfway job on all 3 instead of doing well in any one of them. They're going nowhere unless they win the lottery. Evan
Melo and AI = Disaster waiting to happen. Both of them are players who NEED to ball hog to be effective ala SF3.
