Golden
State at Memphis

Detroit at Charlotte? Gimmicky, and likely overwrought. A
reeling Pistons team, Larry Brown against his old squad, gag me. Plus, lots of
Aaron Aaarrronn Arron Afflalo. Nobody wants that.

Cleveland at Dallas? Slow and dull and ultimately boring.
Fine players, popular players, but it doesn’t strike a chord with me. It makes
you wonder why ESPN hasn’t picked this one up.

Sacramento
at Philly? Interesting, but ultimately one-sided.

Clippers/Jazz? Too many missing people.

Bulls in Orlando?
Close, but Orlando has had Chicago’s
number recently in Florida.

So what’s left, on the last non-election day of the free NBA League
Pass? A hoop junkie’s
delight … Memphis/Golden State! In Memphis!

Sure, these two teams might struggle to top 50 wins combined
this year, but for those who have to rely on national TV nonsense from here on
out (like, say, the Cavaliers taking on the Mavericks), this is quite the
sendoff.

Memphis
has already beaten the Magic, stayed competitive against a
championship-contender in the Houston Rockets, and hung with a Bulls team that
was ready to fight after an embarrassing Halloween night loss on national TV.
Sure, their offense is the league’s worst, but they’ve also played three tough
defensive team, and the Grizzly defense is a surprisingly stout seventh in the
NBA this season.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have lost two of three as well, but
they played New Orleans to a hilt last week, did the same with the Raptors over
the weekend, before downing the Nets on Saturday night. Stephen Jackson is
playing nearly 45 minutes a night, and Andris Biedrins (finally allowed to play
starter minutes) is averaging 18 and 12 in 36 minutes a night.

I think it’s worth your time. If you disagree with me, Clarkson races Hammond
and Captain Slow to Oslo on BBC
America at 8 p.m., and that’s an unmitigated classic if there ever was one.

Shoot a comment or twelve below on whether I dropped the
ball on this one, or we turn out a real winner.

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A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Indy Cornrows. Danny Granger needs to thank an orphanage in Indonesia for his contract extension.
PF: Bullets Forvever. Which Washington Wizards player would make the best President? (O-PECH ‘08!)
SF: Boston Celtics Examiner, via Mouthpiece Blog. Paul Pierce could finish his career in Greece. Yawn.
SG: Cuzoogle. I can’t get enough of Gregg Popvich’s Fugitive-like beard. It’s mesmerizing.
PG: The Painted Area. Witness … LeBron James operating in the High/Low Post offense.
6th: Boston Globe. KG installed a soccer field in his backyard this summer. Anything is possible!
7th: The Blowtorch. Matt Bonner would like to see you in a Banks Chevrolet today. Wicked awesome.
8th: Toronto Star. "Matt Devlin is not Chuck Swirsky" and I couldn’t be happier. All hail the anti-Chuck!
9th: Ben’s Phoenix Suns Blog. Could the Suns now be viewed around the league as bullies?
10th: Boston Globe, part 2. Ray Allen is a little tired of Rip Hamilton’s fingernails: "He was saying how when he saw me come out the next game with an arm sleeve on, they started laughing about it," said Allen. "And then I said, ‘Look, man, I’m wearing an arm sleeve because …’ And then I picked his hand up and looked at his nails. And his nails were way out. He said, ‘Man, I didn’t know I cut people up like that. People tell me all the time that I need to cut my nails, but I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I told him, ‘Come on, dog, you know why you’re using them.’"

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Another day, and another reason to have no idea as to what the Denver Nuggets are on about.

Another day, and another reason to be completely wowed by Joe Dumars and his executive savvy, in spite of his noted missteps (Darko, Kwame, Rodney White, etc.).

Woj is reporting that the Nuggets are about to send Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, with frontcourt prospect Cheikh Samb thrown in for Denver as well. Throw in whoever you want. It’s an absolute steal for the Pistons.

It’s an absolute steal even if Iverson turns an ankle on his way toward Auburn Hills and doesn’t play a game for this team, because Dumars just managed to do the exact thing (acquire cap space in one fell swoop) that the Nuggets had been supposedly trying to do all along with AI and his expiring contract.

The Nuggets? I’ve become convinced that they think the NBA is folding sometime this summer.

Iverson makes almost $21 million this year, in the final year of his contract, and paired with several other expiring contracts on the Detroit roster, we’re looking at a Pistons team that could have at least $20 million cap space this summer. Had the Pistons held the current roster together, once you figured in Jason Maxiell’s contract extension and the fact that Rip Hamilton and Kwame Brown are likely to pick up their player options, the team was looking at being just a few hundred thousand over the cap, even with Rasheed Wallace’s giant expiring contract.

Instead, this team will have Hamilton, Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Amir Johnson, and a host of youngsters on the cheap, plus enough money to pull in two huge primo free agents. All in return for a 32-year old point guard who is owed $13 million in 2011, and a F/C who might retire.

And, if AI and Rasheed and the gang work out … who knows? They probably won’t, but there are options. The Pistons now have $31.7 million in expiring contracts to shop around starting at the beginning of the 2009 (when Iverson can be traded again). Dumars might not be done.

As for the Nuggets … what the hell?

Billups is still a little underrated, he’s a terrific point guard in the half-court, and Denver is desperate for a competent ball-handler to feed their still-formidable rosters of scorers and finishers. J.R. Smith will plug in Iverson’s old shooting guard slot and score just as much, if not more. No joke. He also has the size to defend better than AI, but this is also J.R. Smith we’re talking about, so let’s not get carried away.

Meanwhile, should he report, McDyess can still play, he’s already been a Nugget twice in his career, and Denver will be in better shape with that duo than they were in just with Iverson.

But at what price? This keeps the Nuggets well over the luxury tax level this season, and it means Denver will be right near it in 2009-10 even with just seven players signed and Linas Kleiza’s contract situation in the air. Give Linas seven million a year, and the Nuggets are paying six or seven million in luxury tax with only eight roster spots filled.

And assuming Kleiza gets the sort of contract I mentioned, even with McDyess’ contract expiring, the Nuggets are on the books for nearly $70 million in 2010-11 with just Chauncey, Nene, Kenyon Martin, Kleiza, Carmelo Anthony, and J.R. Smith on board. Just six players, well over the cap, and approaching luxury tax territory.

The Nuggets will be better with this trade, this season. Don’t doubt it for a second. A backcourt with Smith and Billups playing big minutes and Anthony Carter or Chucky Atkins working in reserve will do far more than any combination with AI pulling in 40 minutes a night, Smith filling in where he could, and Atkins/Carter having to log heavy minutes because nobody else can bring the ball up court.

But it won’t be enough to get near New Orleans, the Lakers, Utah, or Houston. And it won’t touch San Antonio, when Manu Ginobili gets back. It might be enough to put Denver in the playoffs, but that’s about it. And that "it" will be paid handsomely through 2011.

Detroit’s taking another chance, and though there’s the possibility the team might whiff in free agency, it hardly matters. They’ve cleared cap space and developed even more options. If nothing happens this summer, then they can run the kids for a year before trying to clamp down on the 2010 free agent market. After all, only Tayshaun Prince ($11.1 million), Jason Maxiell (reportedly about $5 million), and the backcourt tandem of Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo (combined to make $4.7 million) will be on the books that summer.

Nobody, not even Joe Dumars or Iverson himself, will be able to anticipate what sort of impact his presence will have on this year’s Pistons team. AI’s game is that unique. But given the far-reaching implications of what this deal could do for Detroit, again, it hardly matters in the long run.

It’s all dependent on Dumars making another series of good moves with his newfound options, but given the man’s past, should we even doubt the man?

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Baron Abandonment Disorder (B.A.D.) can really suck the life out you. For some, like Don Nelson, it’s a mild annoyance, but for others, it’s the equivalent of severe clinical depression. Take, for example, Bay Area reporter Laurence Scott. The poor guy’s having such a hard time dealing with the absence of Boom Dizzle that he’s started producing videos to help take his mind off the loss. He’s probably stopped drinking coffee after 2 p.m., too.

(Many thanks to John Ness for the link.)

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According to everyone and their grandma, Denver has traded Allen Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Here’s what they’re saying out in the ether about the bold switcheroo …

Denver Stiffs:
"… if George Karl knows what he’s doing, he has a chance to replicate
the success of the recent era of the Pistons by starting Billups and
J.R. Smith together a la Billups and Rip Hamilton, with Nene and Kenyon
Martin taking on the Ben Wallace/Rasheed Wallace undersized but
effective front court and Melo playing the Tayshaun Prince small
forward position. Of course, this requires preaching defense which will
be a tall order over the entire season. One thing that perplexes me is
that if the Nuggets were intent on making this deal, why not do it
before the season started so the new guys could acclimate during
training camp?"

The Sporting News: "The question is, can Detroit handle this? I see why Denver’s dealing AI. Sure, on a visceral level, it’s an insult to beauty, the underdog, and the emotional investment in the NBA of anyone under thirty that Iverson’s getting passed around like this. But plain and simple, he’s a scorer who dominates the ball and flips off assists casually, once things have broken down. The team desperately needs a sense of order, and a calm hand on the tiller — that’s what Billups brings. Oh, and the salary cap implications are enormous — no way they want to shell out max money for such an imperfect match, especially an aging one. Between Carmelo and the re-signed J.R. Smith, the Nuggets have firepower for days that doesn’t clog the offense in the same way. This saddles them with Billups till at least 2010-11, but he’s cheaper, a better fit, and makes for a more logical core. Oh, and he’s a hometown hero. So it’s good for Denver. As for Detroit, the key is the huge salary cap relief Detroit gets when Iverson’s deal expires this summer. If this experiment doesn’t work out, they can try Rodney Stuckey at the one, look elsewhere … from a contracts standpoint, Dumars hit a home run."

The FanHouse: "This deal isn’t about tomorrow or April, though: it’s about July. Iverson is a pending free agent, while Billups and Antonio McDyess will take up $19 million of cap space next season. If Dumars lets A.I. flee and fails to re-sign aging forward Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons will be looking at upwards of $20 million in cap space in the summer of 2009. The free agent crop is solid — not replete with superstars, but solid. Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Hedo Turkoglu, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Ben Gordon … there’s a chance Dumars could pick up two of those guys with all his space. (UPDATE: Rip Hamilton could also opt out this summer, if he wants to pass up $11 million in exchange for long-term security. That’d give Dumars more than $30 million to play with.)"

Pickaxe and Roll: "It has been obvious that the Nuggets were in need of a point guard even since they traded Andre Miller to Philly in exchange for Iverson. AI has always been more of a shooting guard than a point and while they received some great effort from Anthony Carter, he left much to be desired. My number two offseason priority for Denver was finding a point guard. I guess three games into the season is close enough to the offseason where we can say they got the job done. When I laid out the specifications after last year that I would like to see in a point guard Chauncey Billups is almost a prefect match. He is unselfish, knows how to set up his teammates and can run an offense, he has the size and willingness to play defense and he can shoot it from downtown. He is nearly a perfect fit. Keeping that in mind the question is does Billups accomplish what AI could not and make the Nuggets a contender? I think this trade clearly makes the Nuggets a better team right now, and probably next year too, but I have to say at this point they are still not a contender at the level of the Lakers, Hornets and Jazz."

SLAM: "Detroit is going to love A.I. The little guard’s hard-nosed play will quickly anoint him a king. But this trade also makes something else official: This is the Pistons’ last chance for an NBA Title … at least for a while. Iverson’s contract goes off the books after this season. He’s likely not coming back, unless the Pistons can land a championship this season. Rasheed is also coming off the books, and he’s shown no desire to do anything next year other than chill on the beach and call it a career."

Empty The Bench: "Pistons fans have to be pumped right now. Iverson is a legit superstar and Chauncey was looking increasingly creaky. AI is coming off one of the finest seasons of his career in Denver and despite being a 33-year-old has plenty left in the tank. Billups is a year younger, but broke down last season and it’s been a few years since he’s shown Mr. Big Shot form in the postseason. McDyess’ steady play and veteran leadership will be missed up front in Detroit, but the Pistons have two young bigs chomping at the bit in Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell. Both of them, along with free-agent acquisition Kwame Brown, will now be leaned on heavily for the remainder of the season. If either J-Maxx or Amir is available in your fantasy leagues, scoop them up ASAP."

NBA Noise: "How Iverson will mesh in with this team will be interesting. The Pistons have largely played within the team concept, catering to several players who can be considered "stars." But Iverson is a different beast altogether. He is a volume-shooter, and he has been for his entire career. Still, Iverson did show that he could co-exist with another volume-shooter in Carmelo Anthony, and I’m sure the Pistons will be able to integrate him into their system. I view this as a last-ditch effort for the Pistons to win a championship with this core group. They know their window is beginning to close, so bringing in a still highly capable Iverson should give them a boost. This is also a somewhat low-risk deal for the Pistons, as if it doesn’t work out Iverson’s hefty contract will be off the books at the end of this season, and they always have the up-and-coming Rodney Stuckey to fall back on."

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