NBA WIZARD BREAKS DOWN A.I FOR CHAUNCEY & DYESS TRADE

The Denver Nuggets and the Detroit Pistons pulled off an early season blockbuster by trading Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and the Pistons young center Cheikh Samb. Obviously the Pistons got A.I the best player in the trade but the Nuggets also got exactly what they needed.

The Denver Nuggets decided before the start of the season that the Allen Iverson – Carmelo Anthony experiment was not going to cut it this season. One of them had to be traded and A.I was the easier and logical choice. First of all, Allen will make $22 million this season and is in the final year of his contract. The Nuggets figured they were barely going to make the playoffs with A.I this season and if so probably weren’t good enough to compete. An early exit from the playoffs for the second straight season would have made it really difficult to convince A.I to return. Being a 34 year old free agent bound for the hall of fame, A.I would have more than likely left the Nuggets at the end of the season for a contender to try to win a championship. With Carmelo, up and coming guard J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza already in their lineup the Nuggets felt like a true point guard is what they needed. Chauncey Billups definitely fits this bill. Picking up forward / center Antonio McDyess puts the icing on the cake if they end up keeping him. MyDyess clearly fills the void left by Marcus Camby, the Nuggets starting center from last season. Camby was traded to the Clippers for basically nothing before the start of this season.

Joe Dumars, the General Manager of the Detroit Pistons continues to be the best G.M in the NBA this decade. The only mistake he’s made is picking Darko Milicic over Dywane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, but other than that his decision making has been flawless. Trading for Iverson was the best move available for Joe because he was able to accomplish two things. First, he put the Pistons in a great position financially. The Pistons with the addition of A.I are committed to $71 million this season. With Both A.I and Rasheed contracts falling off the books the Pistons will enter next season with $33 million in total salaries. Secondly, the Pistons unlike the Nuggets are looking forward to the points A.I will bring. Over the past few seasons the Pistons offense has been stagnant and Chauncey’s inconsistency on offense is one one of the reasons for that. Even though he averaged 17ppg in each of the last two seasons he clearly didn’t live up to his nickname “Mr. Big Shot.” After a heartless 6 game series in which the Pistons loss miserably to the eventual champs Boston Celtics, Joe Dumars knew he had to make a change and indeed he did.

Chauncey is under contract until the 2010/2011 season during which time the Nuggets are banking on him improving Carmelo and J.R Smith’s game. Chauncey 32 has three years to make his mark and maybe ending his career in his home town might motivate him to re-establish his status as “Mr. Big Shot.”

NUGGETS B+

A.I wants to win a championship in the worse way and all he needs to do is average 22+ ppg, 7+apg and shoot over 45% from the field. His career averages are 27.7 ppg, 6.3apg and 42.6% from the field. However, since joining the Nuggets Iverson shooting percentage has increased to 45.6% which makes 22ppg, 7apg and 45% field goal percentage very likely. Obviously the Pistons are in a very good position to re-up even if the A.I situation doesn’t work out in Detroit. Unlike Billups who has had problems with the Celtics and the Cavaliers, A.I has flourished offensively against both teams. Other than financial flexibility this was probably the single most important reason that Joe Dumars traded for Iverson. The days of Chauncey scoring 8 points on 3 for 11 shooting in a crucial playoff game are over. A.I is capable of averaging 25+ppg against both of those teams in a series which makes this trade a brilliant move by Joe Dumars. You add those numbers to Rip Hamilton's 20ppg along with whatever you can get from Rasheed, Tayshaun, Stuckey and Maxiell, the new look Pistons should be more fluid on offense and pose a major challenge to the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.

DETROIT A-