Allen Iverson Trade is Stupid Move on Pistons Part

The Denver Nuggets did the right thing in getting rid of Allen Iverson.  They never should have traded for Iverson to begin with.  Iverson is one of the most overrated basketball players in the history of the NBA.  The Pistons are sure to suffer and lose all hope of any run to a title.

Iverson is fast, quick and entertaining to the fans, but he doesn't play fundamentally sound basketball.  His quickness gets him steals on defense and gives him a chance to drive by his defender when he has the ball. 

Instead of using his speed and quickness to full effect, all Iverson ever does is dribble all over in circles until either he feels like hoisting what is usually a horrible shot, or he has no chance to fling it toward the hoop and passes off to somebody else so they can take a horrible shot with the shot clock at one.

I would take Chauncey Billups over Iverson any day of the week.  Billups controls the game the way a point guard should.  If the team needs him to take a shot because it is the right play, Billups can step up in the clutch and make that shot.  If Billups is better off dishing the ball to another player with a better shot at the hoop, he will do exactly that. 

Iverson thinks that, because he sacrifices his diminutive body amongst the NBA giants and logs a ton of minutes on the floor, he is a team player.  Somehow he has even been touted as a great teammate by those who have played with him in the past.  Maybe he is a good guy and maybe he hustles his heart out on every play, but he is the worst kind of teammate when he is on the floor. 

Iverson destroys any kind of offensive gameplan by his coach, taking the game into his own hands like a schoolyard ball hog who thinks his skill will carry the team all by itself.  Iverson and his supporters can point at his stats as some kind of proof of his ability, but look at the teams he has been on.  Philadelphia was one of the worst teams in the league when Iverson was there.  All he could do was cry about how he wished he could play for a contender.

So, he gets traded to the Nuggets, a team loaded with high priced talent already, and what happens?  They go nowhere.  They don't even come close to contending for a title.  The Western Conference is tough, people will say.  I say Iverson simply is not any good.

Joe Dumars apparently is trying to shake things up in Detroit.  He is angry with his Pistons for losing to the Celtics in last seasons playoffs and he feels the need to make a change.  His Pistons might draw a few more fans to their arena by adding the popular Iverson to the roster, but that is about it.  They will have no chance to beat the Celtics, now, let alone a chance to win a championship. 

Adding Iverson and getting rid of Billups and Antonio McDyess was the kiss of death for the Pistons.