Iverson Back in the East
By: 2K Insider | Thursday November 06 2008
The big news in the NBA this week was the trade of a former league MVP for a former Finals MVP. Chauncey Billups trade rumors surfaced shortly after the Pistons lost the Conference Finals to the Celtics. The now infamous Joe Dumars quote "there are no sacred cows here" materialized just one week into the new season. Veteran Antonio McDyess and big man project Cheikh Samb were shipped to Denver in exchange for one of the elite scorers the NBA has ever seen, Allen Iverson.

Iverson has long been the subject of trade speculation throughout his career. However, one of the red flags coming into this season was when he was not named a co-captain of the Nuggets. Unusual for a guy who is thought to be the leader of this team, even though he shared the spotlight with Carmelo Anthony. Thus concluded the Iverson experiment in Denver, less than 2 years after he moved west.

So which team got the better end of the deal? Obviously Iverson is still an All-Star caliber player, capable of leading any team in scoring. This is probably the most talented supporting cast A.I. has ever played with, so it will be interesting to see how much damage they can do in the post-season. Additionally, Detroit dumps Chauncey's 3 year contract while Iverson is in a contract year. Even if Dumars cannot or chooses not to re-sign A.I. next summer, they gain cap flexibility which is so valuable in the current NBA.

Denver gains a proven point guard, something they have been lacking in recent years. Carmelo Anthony is the unquestioned first option offensively, no longer having to share touches with Iverson. This also allows George Karl to give minutes to J.R. Smith at the 2 guard. The young talent has shown flashes of brilliance, but played limited minutes for one reason or another. I think the trade makes the Nuggets a more balanced team on both ends of the floor. So it seems both teams did very well for themselves in a rare win-win situation.

To the misinformed who claim sessions is playing on par with rose. I guess you haven't seen rose play lately. Anyone who has seen the bulls game can tell you it is FACT that rose is undeniably already the best player. Yes, Gordon is having an absolute career year, his deadly jumper that he can hit from anywhere is better than ever but he is taking the ball to the whole like we've never seen before. Gordon has an amazing habit of ball hogging this year at times(completely obvious its his contract year and he's trying to get paid). Gordon's tendency to hold the ball for 10 seconds hurts the bulls at times. Rose aint playin 40 mins for nothing. The bulls run so smooth when he's in conrtol. When he makes up his mind that he's going to the whole, its a layup or monster dunk. He's averaging 18,5,5. He had 19rebs the last 2 games. But Stats just dont tell the story with him. Anybody watching him on a daily basis will tell you with no hesitation that STAR is written all over him. 95% of his points are fts, layups/dunks,or a sweet pull-up jumpshot from the ft line extended(both sides) he's not the best 3pt shooter and not a GREAT shooter yet but as i said he has his spots where he just pulls up off the dribble and drains it. Lastly, the only reason rose is not averaging at least 9 asts is because of gordon's domination of the ball at times. He peacefully confronted Gordon on the court at one point last night in 4th quarter, telling him he needed to pass the ball. WOW, how old is this kid???

I think Andrea Bargani of the Toronto Raptors should be upgraed since he has been playing better. Ben Wallace is definetly not a 78 so you should look into that

Hey Insider, You should put up Chris Duhons passing rating. Not only because he had 22 assist on saturday againts the Warriors.LISTEN:His in his career he avereraged 4.7 assist per game.THIS SEASON he's averaging 8.2 assist per game. In the 06-07&07-08 seasons he averaged 4.0 assist per game thats improvement.Also with 131 assist for this season he almost has more than half of his assist last season which was 263 assist. PLUS now that he's starting that 8.2 assist per game might go over 10.0 assist.(ESPECIALLY WITH THAT KILLER PICK&ROLL)

Hey Insider keep an eye on Devin Harris because if he keeps up what he's got going he can be one of the best gaurds in the leauge.He had 34 points on saturday v.s. Utah and helped the Nets blow them out in the prosses.Now he scored 47 against the suns and lead his team to victory.Now if he can score like that aginst a top-notch defnesive team like Boston he should get his Shot-Close,Lay-Up,Offensive Awereness,Shoot in Traffic,and Shoot of Dribble ratings up.AND DONT FORGET his 38 points he made as the Nets gave the Pistons their first loss of the seaseon.(spoiling Iversons Detroit Debut too.)

I agree with madskillz420 on Derrick Rose he is the best on the bulls.