Iverson Trade: What a Letdown!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Two weeks of non-stop AI trade talk and this is what we get? Iverson to Denver for a starting point guard, contract dead-weight and two first round draft picks.

Count me as one who thinks this trade simply sucks. Not just that Philly got screwed out of a better deal, but who really cares that Denver got the prize in Iverson? Anyway, here's my take on the whole trade situation:

In the short run this trade will work for the Nuggets. You'll read stories about Iverson being a mentor to Melo. Both Iverson and Melo will be on the cover of SI in March. Denver will run off a 10 game winning streak in the spring. Everyone will pick the Nuggets as a dark-horse pick to win the NBA title (Which officially no-longer makes them dark-horse. I hate when NBA experts all pick the same dark-horse teams as though they are some genius. Bro, you went with the mainstream!)

So what happens in the playoffs? The Nuggets get bounced in the second round at best because they can't hang with the front-court depth of Dallas, San Antonio or Phoenix.

In the long run this trade will turn for the worse:

-Both Iverson and Melo are alpha dogs, who's gonna shoot the ball with the game on the line? What happens when Iverson misses his first potential game winner? Who will become the number two option, Melo or Iverson? Unless the NBA decides to use two basketballs, they both can't be final options.

-Melo and J.R. Smith will have to give up some scoring. It's not like the Nuggets will suddenly drop 140 a night.

-George Karl can't coach egos. One year after making the ECF, he threw the Bucks players under the bus on their way to missing out of the playoffs. Let's look at first round busts in the George Karl post-season hall-of-fame: 1994 and 1995 in Seattle, 2003 in Milwaukee and 2006 with Denver. His playoff winning percentage is .449!

-Who was the coach for Team USA in their worst showing ever in the 2002 World Championships? George Freakin Karl.

-Denver didn't even address their frontcourt problems in the trade. Injuries to Nene, Martin and Camby (not yet, but he ALWAYS gets hurt) have made them very thin in the frontcourt. Who's going to match-up with Garnett, Nowitzki, Duncan and Amare?

- Plus, they aren't a good defensive team. Melo can't play defense and Iverson simply won't play defense. Will they turn back the clock and rock it Paul Westhead style losing every night 165-145?

Overall this trade is a disappointment. I was hoping that the Clippers or Minnesota would get Iverson. Instantly both of those teams would be WCF contenders. With AI going to Denver, all this brings is a second round loss and the eventual George Karl implosion in the spring of 2008.

You heard it here, Karl will not last past the 2007-08 season.

Comments

[NIKE]

so many non believers like you abt. this trade and yet a lot of the questions bandied about are simple to answer :

1. you asked if NBA will use 2 balls for Denver ? it already will use 2 balls - the new ball and the old one will be back on Jan.1 .perfect for the nuggets situ . that's 1 for melo and 1 for ai !

2. you say that they are 2 alpha dogs . no problem . one is a female alpha dog and one is a male . as of this moment , 'melo is the bitch 'coz of the brawl .

3. you asked , what abt. the 'frontcourt' problem ? that's where j.r. comes in .after the jr and robinson fight that spilled over to the 'frontcourt' seat , jr showed he can take care of the 'frontcourt' even all by himself if need be .

4. you said that george karl is not a good coach . looks to me that a coach who 'runs the score' vs. the other team (offense) and called a fellow coach a jerk ( more offense ) and a jackass ( even more offens) is a pretty damn good coach .

defense ? who cares about the fence , even the u.s, congress connot agree whether to build one or not to protect our borders !

[Craig]

Good stuff Nike!

[NIKE]

Seriously , AI and 'Melo combination will be awesome !

[rem]

gotta side with Craig on this one this trade is a major disappointment (Ai should've stayed on the east coast) after holding out this long for the best offer and talking reportedly to 28 teams the best they could do was get 'Dre Miller and crummy picks (late 1st rounders)-no Joe Smith doesn't count even tho he probably play cause that's just how bad the Sixers are

no doubt the combo will be impressive (almost unstoppable) to watch but there is no way in hell i would want to coach these guys

Ai will and should make Melo his bitch

Karl is not the coach for this duo (because he doesn't do defense or all-stars very well)

[PJ]

You're absolutely right about Karl. He's the worst possible coach for both AI and Carmelo. He couldn't keep a leash on Cassell, Ray Allen and Glen Robinson. How is he supposed to get a handle on both of them plus JR Smith and Kenyon Martin (if he's still around as Coach when KMart returns)??

Lest anyone forget -- Karl is the number 2 guy from the prima donna school of basketball; he instigated the brawl in MSG on behalf of the number 1 guy, Larry Brown.

Because of how combustible his personality is, Karl will never win a title and if the Nuggets are smart, they'll find someone else to coach soon.

[NIKE]

it's a different karl now .
not the same karl that coached the no.1 sonics that lost to the no.8 seeded team in the 1st rd. of the playoff.
not the same karl that was despised by ray allen in milwaukee .
not the same karl that coached the worst finishing nba infused usa team in the wbc.
certainly not that karl that advises pres. bush .
this one is more mature . wiser and mellower karl.
this karl figured out how to win .
this karl has THE ANSWER !

[Crass]

The Nuggets in the playoffs last year looked like a D league team against the Clippers. It was just that brutal to watch. If anything, Iverson can rally that team better than Anothony did to at least get to the second round.

[coach]

Even the weather wants AI to play for Denver .
The Nuggets' game was cancelled last night because of inclement weather .... and to give AI time to get there and to prepare for his 1st game.

[basketball]

I agree 100%: Melo and AI are both going to want to run the team and take the lions share of the shots. If it turns out that one of them is OK taking a secondary role (i.e. Pippen and Jordan), then this might work out OK. But I'll have to see it to believe it.

[nba skool]

These are some good thoughts about AI and Melo, but I have to disagree about Karl.

You've quoted some of his disappointing coaching stats, but his positives outweigh those by far. NBA.com's profile puts its simply, "During Karl’s tenure in Seattle, the Sonics averaged 59 wins per season and won 357 games – second only to Chicago during that span. He led the Sonics to three 60-win season, had just one losing month and never had a losing streak longer than three games. Only three coaches have led their teams to more 60-win seasons in NBA history: Pat Riley (seven), Phil Jackson (six) and K.C. Jones (four)."

Karl coached the Sonics for 8 seasons. His playoff accomplishments (or lack of) can be more attributed the lack of clutch scorers on the Sonics, and clutch defenders on the Bucks.

Karl had a slow start in Denver because players like KM were not buying in to his system. Before the "brawl" Melo and the Nuggets were finally paying attention and their record showed the results.

Besides, who's saying Karl can't coach defense? What were Payton and McMillan best known for during the Sonics' domination of the West in the mid 90's?

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