Don’t Look Now: Allen Iverson on his Way Out of Philly

Don’t look now but…

Allen Iverson’s days as a Philadelphia 76er are coming to an end. Iverson was told to go home for a couple of days and Ed Snider was quoted as saying they will try to trade him. Given that the team has lost 13 of 15 games since winning its first three of the season and is becoming increasingly uncompetitive in games against mediocre competition now is probably the time to finally move Iverson while they can still get quality young talent and/or top draft picks. The time has come to cut bait with Iverson and start building around the likes of Samuel Dalembert, Andre Iguodala, Rodney Carney, and any young talent it can acquire for Iverson.

Moving Iverson out of the way should, in all likelihood, give Igoudala more touches in the offense, and depending on who they get in return, make him a primary ball handler in the offense. To date Igoudala has failed to live up to some of the hype placed upon him when he broke into the league. However, it remains to be seen if some of that is due to having a limited number of opportunities to make plays given how much Iverson dominates the ball on offense. With AI out of the way Igoudala could potentially blossom into the 20 point per game scorer the Sixers hoped they were getting when they drafted him.

Carney has been drawing some starts for the Sixers of late and has shown some flashes of what he is capable of scoring 9.2 points per game and hitting half of his 3-point attempts.

Dalembert continues to be a bit of an enigma but at 25 he is still young enough not to give up on entirely.  His play has also stepped up a bit as he is averaging 10.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in the month of December and had a solid 12 point, 6 rebound, 5 block effort going up against Orlando and Dwight Howard Saturday night.

Although the guy who seems to be benefitting the most from AI’s absence the past two games is Chris Webber.  Webber has compiled 40 points, 21 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals over the last two games in what have easily been Webber’s best outings to date this year.  With Iverson out of the picture Webber is beginning to see more minutes and touches and he is taking advantage of that.  Not only has he scored well, but he has shot also shot well hitting 17 of 33 of his field goal attempts.

Rumors of Iverson being dealt have always been out there for the past couple of seasons since Larry Brown bolted for Detroit. Iverson was rumored to have almost been dealt to the Celtics on draft day in a deal that would have netted Carlos Boozer, Randy Foye, and Gerald Green in return.   The Sixers may be kicking themselves over that one as Boozer is playing like the dominant player he was before the injuries started effecting him the two previous years and Green and Foye would have given them two young guys in the backcourt to build around in the future.  Denver was rumored to be hot for Iverson this past summer, but with the emergence of J. R. Smith as a legitimate perimeter scoring threat to compliment Carmelo Anthony one has to seriously doubt whether Denver would be that interested in Iverson and whether they really need him now.  But, now the question is where will AI eventually end up.  The top two potential destinations appear to be Boston and Minnesota.

Boston is supposedly ready to offer a package of Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, Delonte West, and Al Jefferson.  This would not be a bad deal for the Sixers as Telfair gives them the young athletic PG to push the ball up the floor with Igoudala and Carney running on the wings.  Once Jefferson gets his foul troubles in order he is going to be a monster to deal with in the low post.  He currently averages 10.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in just 24 minutes of action and he is shooting over .500 from the field.  Having a defensive standout like Dalembert next to him in the paint may be just what Jefferson needs as he would no longer have to worry about guarding the other team’s best big man and that could reduce his issues with fouling too much.  It remains to be seen where West would fit into the equation and Ratliff would just be a throw-in to balance the salaries out and I would not be at all surprised if the Sixers released him before he even got the chance to suit up for the team again.

Minnesota is supposedly willing to offer Randy Foye, Troy Hudson, Eddie Griffin, and Ricky Davis for Iverson.  Talent-wise this is probably a slightly better deal, but I am not sure if it is as good of a fit for the Sixers.  They already have a one-dimensional jump shooter in Kyle Korver so they don’t really need a Troy Hudson for the rotation and Hudson is not the ball handler or playmaker that a Telfair is and Willie Green has been an adequate backcourt backup for Philly this year.  Ricky Davis does not shoot well enough to be a 2-guard and does not rebound enough to be a small forward.  Thus far Carney appears to be the better shooter of the two and not as much of a lockerroom problem that Davis can be at times.  If the Sixers accepted this particular deal it would be solely to get their hands on Foye whom most think is a potential franchise caliber player.

Charlotte has recently thrown its name out there as a potential destination as well.  Bernie Bickerstaff was quoted in the Charlotte Observer as saying he would sit down with management and discuss whether or not to make an offer for Iverson.  In the end, though, I wonder if the Bobcats would be willing to give up what the Sixers would want in return for Iverson and whether it would be in the ‘Cats best interest to acquiesce.  Charlotte has a lot of good young talent and plenty of cap space which is what makes them such an attractive trading partner.  But, I have a sneaking suspicion that the most desirable of the talent in Charlotte – Raymond Felton, Adam Morrison, and Emeka Okafor – is off limits.  Sean May and Gerald Wallace would likely be the two guys the Bobcats would try to build a package around and I don’t know how desirable that would be for the Sixers.  Wallace had a breakout year averaging 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting .538 from the field.  But he faded down the stretch last season battling through injuries and has not been the same player since.  Sean May has shown flashes of potential and is a productive player averaging 10.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in just 22.8 minutes of action per game, but it remains to be seen if he can handle a starting role in the NBA.

It will be very interesting to see where this leads over the next few days and there has been speculation that it may take a three-way deal to make it work.