reflections
December 21st, 2006 Nuggets Bring In Iverson

Allen Iverson

On Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets acquired superstar guard Allen Iverson in a deal in which they shipped Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two 2007 first round draft picks (one previously owned by Dallas) to Philadelphia. Denver also got young forward Ivan McFarlin in the deal, but the team is set to waive him. Iverson asked for a trade nearly two weeks before the deal went down due to the team’s losing ways not changing. Iverson spent 11 years with the Philadelphia 76ers and posted averages of 28.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.1 apg, and 2.3 apg. Iverson led the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 2001, the same year he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.

This trade pairs Allen Iverson with young superstar Carmelo Anthony. Ironically, Iverson and Anthony are the league’s top two leading scorers as of right now (Anthony in first place with 31.6 ppg, Iverson in second with 31.2 ppg). This duo will be absolutely devistating for opposing teams, and it will be nearly impossible to guard. Teams already have a real tough time containing one of them, let alone both of them on the same team.

But what does this mean for Denver? It means this team will be competitive for an NBA championship in the near future. Not only does this team have two superstars who want to win more than anything, but they have a nice supporting cast to go along with it. Marcus Camby is arguably the 2nd best center in the Western Conference, J.R. Smith is a very explosive young wing, Nene is a young big man with a lot of potential, Reggie Evans is minute-for-minute one of the best rebounders in the NBA, Eduardo Najera is an all out hustler, Yakhouba Diawara is a very good young defender, and they even have Earl Boykins who is a double digit scorer off the bench. Not to mention, a great coach in George Karl. This team is going to make a lot of noise once they learn how to play with each other, and they could be a legitimate contender.

Iverson is set to make his Nuggets debut Friday night (12/22/06) at home vs. the Sacramento Kings. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM MST (9:00 pm ET). Unfortunately, Iverson will have to play his first game without his sidekick Carmelo Anthony and young high-riser J.R. Smith due to them serving suspensions for the brawl that took place in New York.

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