Allen Iverson heads to the Motor City – Will Success Ensue?

November 5, 2008 by AlexV · Leave a Comment

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To think that Allen Iverson has not been thrown into a better situation by being traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Detroit Pistons is a preposterous line of thought. He’ll be leaving a team that has been knocked out of the 1st round of the playoffs the last three seasons in only five games in each one of those series.

Although the Nuggets have a proven leader in Chauncey Billups, success may not come as easy playing the west as opposed to the east for this former Finals MVP.

Iverson now joins the cream of the crop in the East. And even if the Pistons would be hard-pressed to make it to at least the Eastern Conference Finals for four straight years in the West as they have in the East, the fact remains that they are part of the elite in their own conference. Two of the key factors in this trade are the timing and the cap space that has been cleared up.Iverson and the rest of the Pistons will now have over 70 games to gel before the playoffs, and with the 20 million plus dollars in spending room that General Manager Joe Dumars has created, the Pistons can afford to make some more moves before this year’s trade deadline and/or especially before the start of next season to make Iverson’s new team even stronger.As for the concerns that the loss in the trade for the Pistons of Chauncey Billups as a true point guard and floor general, don’t count out Allen Iverson’s potential in that same role.

GM Joe Dumars looks to have made good on this deal in his goal to get the Pistons their second NBA Championship under his direction.

Over the last five seasons he has averaged 7.3 assists per game, while Billups has averaged 6.8.

If Iverson can cut down on his 3.9 turnovers per game as opposed to Billups 2.2 through that same five year span, then his 29 points per game against Billups’ hardly comparable 17 per game, also in the past five years can do wonders. Add that to his assists per game and much more playoff savvy crew than the one in Denver, and the Pistons are a clear cut prime contender to overtake the Boston Celtics as Eastern Conference Champions, and perhaps even attain home court advantage throughout the East if not the entire playoffs.