The Denver Nuggets don’t appear to be championship-bound with a core of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. The team is good, but may never be great. With Melo the younger player, the Nuggets are giving up on the combo and sending Iverson to Detroit. In return, the Pistons will send point guard Chauncey Billups and power forward/center Antonio McDyess to Denver.
InsideHoops.com first got wind this deal, which has been reported as a rumor in the past, would actually happen from Marc Spears’ Boston Globe blog.
Looking at the trade for the Pistons: Detroit gets a big-time scorer in Iverson who is a natural shooting guard but can pretend to be a point guard. Chances are, Iverson will start at PG, with Richard Hamilton staying at shooting guard, and young talented point guard Rodney Stuckey continuing to come off the bench. Hamilton is too undersized to play small forward for more than a few minutes. Billups is a better floor general than Iverson, but Iverson’s the quicker player and better scorer. As for Antonio McDyess, he was coming off the bench but still important for Detroit. Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell will have to step up more with Dice gone. And Kwame Brown becomes more important.
Detroit also gets tons of extra salary cap space in the deal.
Looking at the trade for the Nuggets: Gone is Iverson and in comes Billups, who is better than Iverson at running an total team offense. Billups is also a stronger, more physical defender. Billups doesn’t draw defensive attention like Iverson does, but he can do a better job setting up JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony (who can also create his own offense anytime he wants), Kenyon Martin and Nene.
Also, Billups is a Denver guy.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports: The Cavaliers aren’t off to a great start at 1-2 heading into tonight’s game against the Mavericks, but the sky certainly isn’t falling. Yet Mo Williams, touted far and wide as the injection the Cavs needed, seems to be taking the offense’s somewhat shaky start hard. It has only been three games, two of them on the road at juggernauts Boston and New Orleans, and Williams hasn’t played all that poorly, averaging 13.3 points and 4.3 assists. But his body language and comments hint he seems to be putting quite a bit of pressure on himself to perform, an affirmation of his competitive nature. “Personally, I’m just not there yet. I’m still trying to get comfortable,” Williams said. “I’m trying not to lose any sleep over it. Tomorrow is a new day.”
The Miami Herald (Michael Wallace) reports: Heat guard Daequan Cook has seen an increase in playing time because of his improved play on defense, not just because he regained his shooting touch. Cook, who had been mired in a preseason slump, has emerged as the first guard off the bench. Cook, who scored 13 points in each of the first two games of the season, has impressed on defense, where he had struggled with poor footwork and bad technique. ”For me, it was being focused, being patient and realizing what’s going to get me out on the floor is defense,” said Cook, who is averaging 25 minutes a game. “On the defensive end you get looked at more.”
The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent forward Rob Kurz, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.