Post by FLCeltsFan on Jun 30, 2006 15:03:04 GMT -5
There is a lot more to this article so I am including the link if you want to check it out. I have thought all along that we would have to give up way too much to get King to trade AI within the division. I guess it all depends on what the other suitors for him offer. An interesting note is that Danny wants Iverson so much because he has the same brain type as Michael Jordan... but isn't that what they said about Scal??? So much for brain typing...
sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2505206
1. An Allen Iverson trade
There's one small consolation in circulation for any Philly fanatics dreading the increasingly inevitable departure of Allen Iverson:
By the time this deal actually happens, after so much speculation already, maybe it won't be so shocking.
Maybe.
That'll naturally depend on the package Philly ultimately receives in return and where Iverson lands. Yet it's safe to say the city is firmly on high alert, awaiting the official word that their li'l Answer is headed elsewhere. Widespread knowledge of serious Sixers-Celtics talks before Wednesday's draft has given everyone a chance to get used to the idea that Iverson will not be with the Sixers come October ... and that there'll be at least one summer blockbuster this free-agency season.
However ...
The Stein Line view holds that Iverson won't/can't wind up in Boston, no matter what you've heard. Seriously. How could the Sixers possibly trade away Iverson -- a more controversial move than shipping out Charles Barkley -- to the Celtics? The Celtics?
I've run this past a few unattached executives and the reaction is pretty much the same every time. Trading Iverson is a rough, tough sell in any circumstances. Trading him within the Eastern Conference and within the same division doesn't make it any easier. Trading him to your archrival is unsellable ... unless Paul Pierce is the return.
And he's not.
The problem? Boston seems to want Iverson more than anyone else, believing that an Iverson-Paul Pierce tandem not only can work -- since Pierce and Antoine Walker did -- but also can thrust the Celts into contention. That's why Boston is trying so hard to recruit a third team to make the deal more palatable for the Sixers and is ignoring anyone saying this is all crazy talk.
Another big reason: I'm told that GM Danny Ainge has been an Iverson fan for years. AI apparently has the Michael Jordan brain type, and Ainge values the brain-type phenomenon a great deal.
Yet another factor to help Boston's cause: Atlanta and Memphis, two of the more sensible Iverson destinations, aren't exactly in prime bidding position.
The Hawks, as noted here for years, are desperate for a dynamic winner/entertainer in the Michael Vick mode, because that's what the city's hard-to-get NBA customers want and expect. The Hawks also have a coach (Mike Woodson) who knows Iverson (as a Sixers assistant) and the pieces to make Philly an offer (starting with signed-and-traded free agent Al Harrington) that wouldn't require a third team.
The Hawks, though, are gripped by ownership uncertainty. Ousted co-owner Steve Belkin might be on the verge of reclaiming control of the franchise from the seven owners who forced him out, but it's unclear how long it will take to settle that battle in court. So it's hard to imagine, no matter which faction ends up in power, that the Hawks will be sufficiently stable this summer to make a real Iverson play.
The Grizz, meanwhile, probably ruled themselves out -- if they were ever seriously interested -- by surrendering Shane Battier in a draft-night trade with Houston to acquire the rights to Rudy Gay. Grizz boss Jerry West, who has resisted Battier overtures for years, would have been forced to part with his favorite swingman if he hoped to pair Iverson with Pau Gasol and land the ticket-seller Memphis so badly needs. He opted for Gay instead.
We'll see who else materializes as an Iverson suitor. But there's one last thing to ponder here until the next twist: How much fun will that first prac-tiss in October be if the Sixers, after talking so much trade, can't consummate an Iverson deal before training camp commences in Spain? Did someone say international incident?
2. An even bigger trade?
Don't get greedy.
We keep writing this but you keep asking us, so we repeat for the umpteenth time: Minnesota is not trading Kevin Garnett.
Not to a contender or noncontender. Not now, anyway. Not yet. Not before the season starts.
That won't change unless Garnett demands a trade and, by all indications, he won't. The Wolves, in turn, want to take one more stab at building around him despite two straight seasons out of the playoffs. Teams that called to inquire about Garnett's availability in conjunction with the draft were told not to waste their time, sources said.
The same, according to NBA front-office sources, applies to Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal. Anybody but O'Neal is the latest word from Pacers officials. Ditto for Pierce in Boston.
Iverson, then, is the only franchise player presently on the market.
Even Seattle's Rashard Lewis, from the next tier, was mentioned at draft time only because the talks involved Phoenix's Shawn Marion. Lewis isn't being "shopped." I'm hearing that the Sonics will consider a Lewis deal only if they're getting back Marion-level talent.
That's not to say this market lacks intriguing trade candidates. The Warriors have an array of trade chips and are a lock to move someone notable in a bid to shake up their roster, since they persist with coach Mike Montgomery. That someone is most likely power forward Troy Murphy.
Milwaukee's Jamaal Magloire and Utah's Carlos Boozer add some variety and depth to the list of available big men. Denver, meanwhile, continues to aggressively shop Kenyon Martin, ambitious as that is given Martin's enormous contract.
Rewind to Iverson and that's five trade contenders in the $10 million-a-year range, with the Clippers' Corey Maggette ($7 million) not far off.
You'll hear other recognizable names, too, given the so-so nature of the free-agent class. Trades figure to supply most of the offseason excitement, which means heavy doses of speculation but no shortage of real-deal chatter, either.
sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2505206
1. An Allen Iverson trade
There's one small consolation in circulation for any Philly fanatics dreading the increasingly inevitable departure of Allen Iverson:
By the time this deal actually happens, after so much speculation already, maybe it won't be so shocking.
Maybe.
That'll naturally depend on the package Philly ultimately receives in return and where Iverson lands. Yet it's safe to say the city is firmly on high alert, awaiting the official word that their li'l Answer is headed elsewhere. Widespread knowledge of serious Sixers-Celtics talks before Wednesday's draft has given everyone a chance to get used to the idea that Iverson will not be with the Sixers come October ... and that there'll be at least one summer blockbuster this free-agency season.
However ...
The Stein Line view holds that Iverson won't/can't wind up in Boston, no matter what you've heard. Seriously. How could the Sixers possibly trade away Iverson -- a more controversial move than shipping out Charles Barkley -- to the Celtics? The Celtics?
I've run this past a few unattached executives and the reaction is pretty much the same every time. Trading Iverson is a rough, tough sell in any circumstances. Trading him within the Eastern Conference and within the same division doesn't make it any easier. Trading him to your archrival is unsellable ... unless Paul Pierce is the return.
And he's not.
The problem? Boston seems to want Iverson more than anyone else, believing that an Iverson-Paul Pierce tandem not only can work -- since Pierce and Antoine Walker did -- but also can thrust the Celts into contention. That's why Boston is trying so hard to recruit a third team to make the deal more palatable for the Sixers and is ignoring anyone saying this is all crazy talk.
Another big reason: I'm told that GM Danny Ainge has been an Iverson fan for years. AI apparently has the Michael Jordan brain type, and Ainge values the brain-type phenomenon a great deal.
Yet another factor to help Boston's cause: Atlanta and Memphis, two of the more sensible Iverson destinations, aren't exactly in prime bidding position.
The Hawks, as noted here for years, are desperate for a dynamic winner/entertainer in the Michael Vick mode, because that's what the city's hard-to-get NBA customers want and expect. The Hawks also have a coach (Mike Woodson) who knows Iverson (as a Sixers assistant) and the pieces to make Philly an offer (starting with signed-and-traded free agent Al Harrington) that wouldn't require a third team.
The Hawks, though, are gripped by ownership uncertainty. Ousted co-owner Steve Belkin might be on the verge of reclaiming control of the franchise from the seven owners who forced him out, but it's unclear how long it will take to settle that battle in court. So it's hard to imagine, no matter which faction ends up in power, that the Hawks will be sufficiently stable this summer to make a real Iverson play.
The Grizz, meanwhile, probably ruled themselves out -- if they were ever seriously interested -- by surrendering Shane Battier in a draft-night trade with Houston to acquire the rights to Rudy Gay. Grizz boss Jerry West, who has resisted Battier overtures for years, would have been forced to part with his favorite swingman if he hoped to pair Iverson with Pau Gasol and land the ticket-seller Memphis so badly needs. He opted for Gay instead.
We'll see who else materializes as an Iverson suitor. But there's one last thing to ponder here until the next twist: How much fun will that first prac-tiss in October be if the Sixers, after talking so much trade, can't consummate an Iverson deal before training camp commences in Spain? Did someone say international incident?
2. An even bigger trade?
Don't get greedy.
We keep writing this but you keep asking us, so we repeat for the umpteenth time: Minnesota is not trading Kevin Garnett.
Not to a contender or noncontender. Not now, anyway. Not yet. Not before the season starts.
That won't change unless Garnett demands a trade and, by all indications, he won't. The Wolves, in turn, want to take one more stab at building around him despite two straight seasons out of the playoffs. Teams that called to inquire about Garnett's availability in conjunction with the draft were told not to waste their time, sources said.
The same, according to NBA front-office sources, applies to Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal. Anybody but O'Neal is the latest word from Pacers officials. Ditto for Pierce in Boston.
Iverson, then, is the only franchise player presently on the market.
Even Seattle's Rashard Lewis, from the next tier, was mentioned at draft time only because the talks involved Phoenix's Shawn Marion. Lewis isn't being "shopped." I'm hearing that the Sonics will consider a Lewis deal only if they're getting back Marion-level talent.
That's not to say this market lacks intriguing trade candidates. The Warriors have an array of trade chips and are a lock to move someone notable in a bid to shake up their roster, since they persist with coach Mike Montgomery. That someone is most likely power forward Troy Murphy.
Milwaukee's Jamaal Magloire and Utah's Carlos Boozer add some variety and depth to the list of available big men. Denver, meanwhile, continues to aggressively shop Kenyon Martin, ambitious as that is given Martin's enormous contract.
Rewind to Iverson and that's five trade contenders in the $10 million-a-year range, with the Clippers' Corey Maggette ($7 million) not far off.
You'll hear other recognizable names, too, given the so-so nature of the free-agent class. Trades figure to supply most of the offseason excitement, which means heavy doses of speculation but no shortage of real-deal chatter, either.