Knicks, Heat Interested in Iverson

[duncan228]

Knicks, Heat Interested in Iverson (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-knicksheatinterested&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews

It didn’t take long for the interest in Allen Iverson to heat up.

The Knicks are getting closer to making an offer for Iverson, who parted ways with the Grizzlies on Monday, according to several published reports. "It’s a given," a source told The New York Times. "They’re going to make the biggest play for him."

Team president Donnie Walsh wouldn’t say whether he’d reached a definitive decision, but he told reporters before Wednesday’s game that it was obvious his team needs a change—the Knicks are now 2-9 after beating the Pacers. He even said Iverson’s presence might "benefit" the team’s younger players, according to the New York Daily News.

"We wouldn’t be considering it if we thought that we were functioning well—and we’re not," Walsh said. "But I want to make sure that if we do something like this, it’s the right thing to do."

If the Knicks have competition from Iverson, it could come from the Miami Heat—the Daily News reported a person close to the team saying the team is "hot" after him.

Iverson is scheduled to clear waivers at 6 p.m. today.

[Thunder Dan]

he seems like a perfect for the the Knicks. Can you imagine the Knicks with a Iverson, Hughes, Harrington and Curry lineup? That would be awesome to hear someone break down that lineup.

[Donkeybong]

It definitely would be fun to watch. And the Knicks couldnt be any worse. Im all for it and so should the Knick fans be.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Knicks literally have nothing to lose. If he comes in and makes them a 25 win team instead of a 15 win team, it only worsens a lottery pick they don't have.

[iilluzioN]

Iverson
Wade
Labron
Bosh / Jordan Hill
Center??

Not to mention a first round draft pick

[Thunder Dan]

Not to mention a first round draft pick

they don't have one of those next year....and it's not even top 5 protected LMAO. The Jazz could get the #1 overall pick

[iilluzioN]

they don't have one of those for 2 more years


:lol

man who was managing this team...

what a bad bad bad General Manager

[Thunder Dan]

the Knicks traded their 2010 first round pick in the Marbury deal...and the Suns traded it to the Jazz in a even worse trade because I don't even know who the player was.

[Thunder Dan]

LMAO, just looked it up: which is worse?

Knicks sending a package of players and their 2010 draft pick for Marbury (who turned out to be a major problem)

or

The Suns trading that pick for Keon Clark?

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

LMAO, just looked it up: which is worse?

Knicks sending a package of players and their 2010 draft pick for Marbury (who turned out to be a major problem)

or

The Suns trading that pick for Keon Clark?


The Knicks trade was worse (the Suns trade still pisses me off thought, and FYI it was only done to unload Goog's contract). Without unloading Goog's contract, the Suns wouldn't have been able to sign Nash.

[Thunder Dan]

The Knicks trade was worse (the Suns trade still pisses me off thought, and FYI it was only done to unload Goog's contract). Without unloading Goog's contract, the Suns wouldn't have been able to sign Nash.

the number 1 overall pick for Keon Clark sounds alot better

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

the number 1 overall pick for Keon Clark sounds alot better


Did you not fuckin read what I just wrote? They didn't trade that pick because they wanted Keon Clark, they used that pick to unload Goog's contract enabling them to sign Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Nevermind, I was wrong about when Goog's contract expired. You're right, both trades royally sucked.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Just another example of why Bryan Colangelo is no better than Steve Kerr.

[JMarkJohns]

Nevermind, I was wrong about when Goog's contract expired. You're right, both trades royally sucked.

The Gugliotta trade to Utah was all about the inception of the luxury tax. Colangelo was on his way out, Sarver on his way in, and JC didn't have the money to pay 20 million for having Googs on the final day roster, so he felt it necessary to dump Googs contract at any cost. Utah was under the CAP enough, but demanded a king's ransom. Googs/two NY picks for Clark's partially guaranteed expiring, lesser contract. Got the Suns under the tax threshold and allowed JC to walk away without another cent coming out of his pockets, since he needed every cent to pay back creditors/backers for his 2001 Diamondbacks Title.

[Indazone]

Aren't Iverson and Wade the same type of players? They both need to dominate the ball. That would be like pairing Francis and Marbury together.

[Thunder Dan]

Aren't Iverson and Wade the same type of players? They both need to dominate the ball. That would be like pairing Francis and Marbury together.

and Larry Hughes and Al Harrington...all the same player

[duncan228]

Frank Isola, New York Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2009/11/19/2009-11-19_donnie_walsh_iverson.html?r=sports%2Fbasketball %2Fknicks&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fsports%2Fbasketball %2Fknicks+%28Sports%2FBasketball%2FK):

"The answer to The Answer appears to be yes. Donnie Walsh said Wednesday night that the Knicks have yet to make a final decision on whether to sign Allen Iverson but the Knicks president hinted that the club is leaning strongly in that direction. Iverson, a former MVP, is expected to clear waivers at 6 p.m. today and will become an unrestricted free agent. The Knicks could have competition from Miami, who according to a person close to Iverson said the team is 'hot' after him. 'Until something's done it's not done,' Walsh said. 'That's the way I've always been. If he's not signed it's not done.' It's worth remembering that Walsh used similar language days before Mike D'Antoni was hired as coach. Walsh has spent the past few days calling his inner circle of NBA friends about Iverson. One of those calls was to Larry Brown, the former Knicks coach, who was with Iverson in Philadelphia when the Sixers went to the NBA Finals."

[Basketballgirl25]

Iverson on the Knicks lol, I'd love to see that, maybe it would turn into another Marbury thing with talking everyday in the media. Who is even on the Knicks, my cousins and uncle and grandma are Knicks fans and I don't even know who is on the Knicks. i only know Nate and Lee and they guy who was a rookie last year

[Bukefal]

I hope the guy leaves the court for good.

[duncan228]

Give Me Iverson in NYC or Give Me Death (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-givemeiversoninnycor&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews

Let me take a mulligan on that Lakers/Iverson piece (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/43797/pondering_iverson_to_the_lakers). That was a stray thought, a late-day flier, that somehow drifted over into the next day and onto the front page. And, if you read the first sentence, you’ll notice that I never really viewed it as an option for the wayward star.

But with Iverson adrift, set to officially become free and clear from the waivers process today, and available to any team who would have him, there’s really only one option: The New York Knicks. I know, the Heat are also interested, but even I know that Wade and Iverson don’t make no sense together. And sure, bringing New York into the discussion seems even more mercenary—on the part of yours, mine, Iverson’s, and the team’s—than my Lakers hypothetical.

If you really think it through, though, it’s pure genius. And it’s really the only option, for all the reasons that the Knicks are still not just (or capable of being something other than) a basketball team. The same for Iverson, too.

Not to keep making this about myself, but earlier in the week I covered the absolutely, positively polarizing nature (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/43655/no_one_generates_lovehate_like_ai) of AI at this point. The "but he gets it done" and "heart of a warrior" defenses have worn off, and truthfully, AI’s game is in decline. There’s no exit strategy for him, no path to enlightened maturity, no way to bow out gracefully; he’s just too much of a risk to make a last run with a contender. Iverson is largely irrelevant, if still effective, as a basketball player. But as a symbol, a celebrity, he’s now as divisive as when he first entered the league.

Enter the Knicks. Everyone knows their eyes are on 2010. Forget that Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni really, badly bit it with the Jordan Hill pick this summer. Actually, don’t; with Danilo Gallinari, David Lee and Wilson Chandler the only remotely credible "pieces for the future" on the roster (this coming from a big Toney Douglas booster), they just aren’t sitting rebuild-pretty like the Nets. This is the wasteland Iverson was seeking, not Memphis. There is nothing here but dry plains, a few good men and millions of eyes turned toward the LeBron-izon. The team doesn’t need a shot in the arm, they need a new promotions strategy.

One of the most maddening aspects of AI’s career is that, to some degree, everyone’s always right, and Iverson does little to help settle the argument. So it will be with any farewell tour that really attempts to foreground winning and losing, or The Answer’s ultimate worth as a player—like, for instance, forcing a confession under interrogation lights that he is or is not a point guard. The Knicks, bless their souls, really want nothing less this season than to be seriously studied as a basketball team. It would be a demoralizing mess, put even more premature pressure on 2010, and oh yeah, remind people that the worse NYK does, the sweeter a pick Utah gets in this year’s lottery.

(Note: I honestly don’t see it as the end of the world if the Knicks, a team with some young players of worth and big free agent scores on the horizon, forfeits say, pick No. 10. But if through some act of God they were to land one of the top three, then they might as well burn down that Garden right then and there. Tangible proof that the skies hate this organization. Imagine passing on Jennings, then sitting there helplessly as Utah takes John Wall. But I digress.)

We can all agree, at least, that today’s Allen Iverson is as much a celebrity, an icon, as basketball player. The same goes for the Knicks. I also suspect that, no matter what side you’re on, there’s a sense that Iverson’s time has passed, and that it’s high time he bowed out gracefully and allow history to start passing ultimate judgment. The Knicks, those guys should be all about brand right now. Sorry, but watching the ups and downs of Wilson Chandler, or the revival or Larry Hughes, just brings down the mystique. There is a no more mutually-beneficial marriage possibly today in the whole of team sports than an Iverson-Knicks pairing.

The Knicks wouldn’t get any worse, and the team’s youngsters are all supplementary, if not role players. Iverson can start and will not embarrass himself or others. It will end Iverson’s career, and get the Knicks through the season, not with a fiery final act but—much to the chagrin of those on both sides of the debate—a big party that’s akin to a career retrospective. Face it, millions still love AI, and it’s been years since he’s really been able to just get in front of the cameras and flash his natural charisma without a barrage of criticism following. The New York press, ruthless as it is, has nothing to gain by beating into the ground an "Iverson isn’t saving us" agenda. But feature the interview on AI the man, the figure … those will keep the press room humming all season, provided he trusts them enough to open up.

This is about Iverson as a national attraction, worthy of the biggest stage the league has to offer. Does this make a mockery of AI, or the Knicks? Only if you have something better in mind. It would good, harmless fun that might bring a degree of healing to all, and work to figure out who AI really is, and what his true place has been in the last decade. All because we’ll get several months of candid, charming Iverson who realizes he’s got the green light to, well, entertain and reflect at the same time. If Jay-Z can now record songs ready-made for the city’s bureau of tourism, why not Iverson’s basketball and the Knicks brand together for one meaningless season? It makes both relevant again. Bloomberg will pose with AI. When the Nets and Knicks meet at the Garden, and Jay-Z and Iverson shake hands at center-court, it will—in the words of my pal Joey (http://straightbangin.blogspot.com/)—"immediately become the most blogged-about photo ever."

What the league owes Allen Iverson, I don’t quite know. Maybe nothing. But like it or not, he does matter, and there’s no question that his last season shouldn’t be just another veteran fizzling out. I don’t care if you think he’s a selfish worthless thug punk. His influence on the game has been immeasurable, his popularity still strong (if latent), and while some may argue that he wrecked the NBA after Jordan, pray tell, exactly who was supposed to keep the slightest shred of audience around?

So fine, you think this makes light of a sacred sport, and expect the NY press to fall in line, or at least expand their minds and realize a far superior, less cynical way to move content. The fans won’t fall for it, the press won’t keep up the conceit, and it will fall apart after a matter of weeks. But think for a second: How does it look to prospective free agents if Iverson comes to town for some harmless fun and egotism, and instead gets ripped apart by talk radio and journalists for not turning the team around, or being a disgrace to the game. That debate will never be settled. Yet is that really the best face to put forward, as a city gets ready to try and convince the game’s best players that NYC is the place for them?

[The Franchise]

I hope the guy leaves the court for good.

:tu

[lefty]

I don't think the Heat are interested.

They have a good thing going on, and a good chemistry.

[duncan228]

Iverson clears waivers, becomes free agent (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=txiversonwaived&prov=st&type=lgns)

Allen Iverson has cleared waivers and is free to sign with any NBA team.

The former MVP was waived Tuesday after playing only three games with the Memphis Grizzlies and no team claimed him in the following 48 hours, making him a free agent.

The New York Knicks are discussing whether they want to bring in the 34-year-old guard. Iverson was unhappy coming off the bench last season in Detroit and this season with the Grizzlies, so there isn’t expected to be much interest in him.

[Chieflion]

Aren't Iverson and Wade the same type of players? They both need to dominate the ball. That would be like pairing Francis and Marbury together.
Can't be worse than Chalmers who has sucked cock this season.

[Bob Lanier]

The last obnoxious cancer the Heats signed worked out pretty well for them.