Iverson Trade: A Success?

[jacobdrj]

Well, it has been over a season now since the trade. As of last night, the Nuggets are the 8th seed, and have a very good record...

So, despite the fact that they are in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, the fact remains that they have a huge improvement on games won already from last season, and are only 5 games out from the 1st spot in the West. This improvement is in no small part due to the addition of AI.

So, would you classify the trade as a success, despite being in the 8th spot bubble?

[Findog]

It's a failure, because they were supposed to become title contenders by pairing up AI with Melo.

[jacobdrj]

Who says they are not? Again, it isn't like there is a 15 game disparity between seeds 1 through 8... there are just 5, which is less than the 5.5 between Boston and Detroit in the East...

They don't play much Defense, I'll give you that. But AI wasn't going to solve that problem.

[Findog]

They don't play much Defense, I'll give you that. But AI wasn't going to solve that problem.

[jacobdrj]

He can't be measured as a failure (or success) for something he has no control over, whether or not the trade happened, now was intended to have control over.

[Findog]

He can't be measured as a failure (or success) for something he has no control over, whether or not the trade happened, now was intended to have control over.

They thought that putting the two of them together would create mismatches on offense that other teams couldn't deal with. They were in the bottom tier of Western playoff teams before the trade and that's where they are now. I don't know what to make of the Nuggets. They have a pretty stout collection of talent, but it just doesn't mesh well. And Carmelo Anthony has a long way to go before he becomes the franchise player that he needs to be for the Nuggets to make that jump into the elite level. They're a very, very good team, but they have too many knuckleheads. You can get away with having one or two of those on your roster if there are plenty of veterans around with the clout to keep them in line, but that's not the case with Denver. They remind me of the Jailblazers, except they're not as good on defense.

[Findog]

Also, I hear Carmelo will be on the next cover of Backwards Fighting Pussies Magazine.

[jacobdrj]

I won't argue on either point ;)
Well put.

[JackArse]

when the trade initally happend, i was really worried about it. so far, it's made them a better team, but not as good as originally though. though, i think with nene back, that's going to be a huge emotional push among the team. they are still dangerous with both of thsoe guys there in the offenseive set, though neither player can guard anyone to save their lives. course, neither can amare or nash, but at least amare can block and nash can draw the charge.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

they held the warriors to 40% shooting tonight and 51pts in the 2nd half, which is great against the highest scoring team in the league....... lets see if the Mavs can do that when they play them :lol

The Nuggets CAN play D, the stats prove it. The issue isn't if they can play D or not, it is the problem that they dont seem to want to on a regular basis.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

They need a new coach. GK is not a good coach at all and needs to go after this season

[JackArse]

i think karl pretty much figures that there isn't a point. most of the time it seems like he thinks.. 'AI and carmelo.. cornrows.. fuck.. are you serious? i gotta go there again? dammit.. '

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

oops, the answer to the question is yes it is a success. Only homers (probably including me but i cant remember lol) were predicting the Nuggets could win a title just coz they have 2 profilic scorers.

They won 45 games last season and just won their 45th game tonight, and so its obvious the team is better with AI so therefore it is a success.


It won't win them a title but thats not on AI. As i said above they need a decent coach. Melo needs to play consistantly like the last games (32/10/8 & 25/7/6/3) or else the Nuggets wont go anywhere. The bench is coming along nicely and we can only guess if nene and atkins will actually see minutes during this tight playoff race

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

i think karl pretty much figures that there isn't a point. most of the time it seems like he thinks.. 'AI and carmelo.. cornrows.. fuck.. are you serious? i gotta go there again? dammit.. '
that's the thing. GK needs to get the guys into line and get respect back as the coach or he needs to leave.

When he arrived in Denver he gave Melo a 10/10/10 rule........he said get me 10 layups/10 freethrows and then you can have your 10 jumpshots (or something along those lines). That worked great and the Nuggets rolled to a 32-8 finish.

Now they dont seem to listen to him and he doesnt seem to show much passion for them winning anymore.

Need a coach who doesn;t care about reputation but is happy to reprimand guys no matter how big of a star they think they are

[jacobdrj]

You want a guy like P-Jax... and quite frankly, he would have some of those players shipped out by mid-morning his 1st day...

[pwilliam]

Of course the Iverson trade is a success for the sixers. They will make the playoffs this year!

[The Nba Is Rigged]

I can bet you that if Avery Johnson went to the Nuggets for about 2 years they would probably win a championship. They have all the talent they need they just need someone to scream at them to play defense. They are similar to the mavs of the 05-06 season

[The Franchise]

Also, I hear Carmelo will be on the next cover of Backwards Fighting Pussies Magazine.
:lol

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Also, I hear Carmelo will be on the next cover of Backwards Fighting Pussies Magazine.
:lmao

[ChuckD]

The trade, at best, is a "push". They were a lower tier first round out before the trade, and they're in the same category now. It's also highly likely that the team is blown up for cap reasons as soon as this summer. They have five players totaling $65M this season. You don't reward players like that for golfing in early May. Luckily, Najera rolls of this summer. He was costing them like $9M per season, with tax. They may be able to deal AI, since he will be going into his expiration year. Kenyon being back is good news, since it means that they can deal one of Camby or Nene.

[ChuckD]

I can bet you that if Avery Johnson went to the Nuggets for about 2 years they would probably win a championship. They have all the talent they need they just need someone to scream at them to play defense. They are similar to the mavs of the 05-06 season
The Mavs didn't win a championship that year, if you recall, and they had Avery screaming in their ears. AI also wouldn't respond the way that passive Dirk did.

[The Nba Is Rigged]

The Mavs didn't win a championship that year, if you recall, and they had Avery screaming in their ears. AI also wouldn't respond the way that passive Dirk did.

So what? They were only 2 games away and a couple of questionable calls away, and its easy to call Dirk "passive" when he was getting smothered by shaq and haslem all series long. Do you think A.I can be guarded that way without getting freethrows? And anyway you can argue that this nuggets team is more talented than the mavericks team that went to the finals in 05-06

[The Nba Is Rigged]

The Mavs didn't win a championship that year, if you recall, and they had Avery screaming in their ears. AI also wouldn't respond the way that passive Dirk did.

How did Ewing respond when he got whooped by Hakeem in the finals? And how did your pathetic "defender" respond to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2AvVl0IQc. I don't know how a knicks fan can be here talking shit.

[mavsfan1000]

Pair to the 2 worst superstars in the league that don't play defense and this is what you get.

[Fabbs]

The cornrow punks are without a healthy Nene, that's got to be considered in fairness.

[peskypesky]

Any team with Carmelo will underperform.

[Gino]

I remember when the trade went down and Reggie Miller claimed on TNT that because of the trade, Devner had leaped frogged every team in the west outside San Antonio.

Thats right about where I lost all respect for him as an analyst.

[Fabbs]

What took you so long, Gino? :lol

When *veteran* Reggie Miller ballhogged away Indianas chances while 20 year old Kobe played controlled and within the team concept the Lakers and refs had laid out for the Finals, that was the final straw for me.

[Gino]

What took you so long, Gino? :lol

When *veteran* Reggie Miller ballhogged away Indianas chances while 20 year old Kobe played controlled and within the team concept the Lakers and refs had laid out for the Finals, that was the final straw for me.

I meant more as an analyst than a player.

When he made that claim I kinda felt bad for him!! If I was there I would have said "Really? C'mon Reggie. You don't REALLY believe that do you? Youre just trying to draw interest in the league, right?"

[PacerFan]

I think the Nuggets have to at least get to the conference finals in one of the next two or three years before ou can even begin to argue that trade was a success.

[ChuckD]

So what? They were only 2 games away and a couple of questionable calls away, and its easy to call Dirk "passive" when he was getting smothered by shaq and haslem all series long. Do you think A.I can be guarded that way without getting freethrows? And anyway you can argue that this nuggets team is more talented than the mavericks team that went to the finals in 05-06
You're totally fucking clueless. Close don't mean shit. Talent that you say Denver has don't mean shit if they don't maximize it by winning, say, one series? The road to NBA hell and ruin is littered with the corpses of talented teams.

Oh, and you must be new. I'm no more a Knicks fan than ChumpDumper is a Hawks fan.

[peskypesky]

Nuggets on paper are awesome. I thought the AI trade would make them contenders. But they just don't appear to have Championship pedigree.

[Allanon]

Considering where they were last year, I'd say it's a successful trade...without AI, they would undoubtedly be competing for ping pong balls this year because of the competitive West.

AI is an awesome player and a game changer and future Hall of Famer...I'd trade away Andre Miller again in a heartbeat.

An underachieving KMart is probably their biggest problem, he's supposed to shore up the defense but instead he lets players waltz on in.

With Camby, AI, Crymelo and KMart, I don't think any team wants to play them in the first round. They're too damn streaky one way or the other.

I'd rather play Dallas, Houston, Utah or Warriors than go up against Denver in the first round.

[ElNono]

They just don't play team defense. KMart only hopes to swat a ball to the stands and flex muscles afterwards. When was the last time you saw Melo or AI taking pride in that the guy they're defending doesn't score?

Right, I didn't think so.

They think they can outscore anybody, but when you put the clamps on them, their plan just fails. I think that's what makes a player like Kobe to be a notch above them. When Kobe wants to, he can take a lot of pride to shut down a player, and if he can't he can get real pissed off about it. You never see that from Melo or AI.

I tell you, they have great pieces there. Najera is a blue collar guy that does all the little things and brings energy. Camby can definitely anchor the defense. But it takes a team effort to do it, and if you have a broken wheel or two, it's not going to happen.

[SenorSpur]

Pair to the 2 worst superstars in the league that don't play defense and this is what you get.


Couldn't agree more. It's safe to call this a failed experiment. I wouldn't expect the Nuggest to extend or reup AI's contract when it expires.

[hater]

a success in selling tickets. a failure in winning championships.

AI was always a liability in defense, and Carmelo is one of the worst defenders I've seen in years.