The Memphis Grizzlies are close to signing Allen Iverson. It would be for a 1 year deal, because 1 year is all you can risk on The Truth and then you might find you can’t handle the Truth.

Memphis apparently is Iverson’s best – and only – NBA opportunity at this point. No other team has publicly emerged as an Iverson suitor. The Griz offered Iverson a reserve role paying at least $3.5 million or what it has remaining under the salary cap.

The offer could be as much as $4.4 million should the Griz renounce their rights to Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro. The deal still is less than the $5 million Memphis originally considered paying Iverson.
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Now to most NBA fans the Memphis Grizzlies are a joke. Think about it right now and tell me one player in the Grizzlies lineup. Hmm, how about Pau Gasol, isn’t he a Grizzlie? Oh, no, that is right; he has been a Laker for a couple of years.

Well, you will get some bonus points, because they do have a Gasol, but it is younger brother Marc the non-All Star caliber player.

Allen Iverson will play next to Mike Conley in the Memphis backcourt

Still the Grizzlies may get zero respect, but their current lineup does have potential.
Try this out:
Center: Marc Gasol with Hasheem Thabeet backing him up. Not bad.
Power Forward: Zach Randolph. OK, still looking for a team that will let the Black Hole be himself.
Small Forward: Scoring machine Rudy Gay.
Shooting guard: Maybe Allen Iverson, otherwise O.J. Mayo. The old grizzled vet and the young pup.
Point guard: Mike Conley. Still waiting for him to develop.

Conley, Mayo, Thabeet, and Gay are all young and talented. Randolph and Iverson can both score. Sure, that lineup is not going to challenge for the title, but some excellent pieces are in place.
Photo source Newscom

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Will Allen Iverson, better known as the Truth, be coming to a team near you soon? That is a question we all ask ourselves, isn’t it?

Hmm, maybe Allen is not news anymore. Geez, have one troubled season and they write you off. OK, maybe troubled season is not the way to put it or you could qualify his whole career as troubled. Or as my Boss likes to quote “Practice? Why are we talking about practice?”.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Iverson did not have a statistically amazing year like he usually does, but you have to like the fact that in this day and age of 6′ 7″ guards, that a little guy built like a little guy, can not only play in the NBA, but can star in the NBA.

Allen Iverson did not enjoy his best year with the Pistons

Now we have Allen saying on his Twitter account that he will be signing with an NBA team real soon. Many think that team could be the Charlotte Bobcats with Coach Larry Brown.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people on his behalf, because last year was a difficult situation for him being put in where he was, replacing Chauncey Billups,” said Brown. “That would have been a difficult situation for anybody. But I know he’s comfortable with me, and we’ve had a lot of discussions. When he played for me was probably when he played his best. Would I like to coach him again? Absolutely.”
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It is hard to believe that Charlotte really wants Allen Iverson or vice versa and what about Brown wanting to coach him again? Now that would be a real twist.

Image: Zuma Press

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One of the most encouraging trends is the International trend in NBA basketball to become more popular overseas. One of the bonus’s for that popularity is the amount of money that is flowing into the sport. It is now very possible for a mid range star or aging veteran to extend their career by going to someplace other than the NBA and still make excellent pay.

You have to wonder what David Stern thinks about all this, having NBA players lured away from the NBA. It may seem fine until a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James takes a 50 million dollar contract to play somewhere else.

Now we have rumors that Allen Iverson may take a contract to play in Greece.

Olympiakos, the Greek club that continues to go after NBA free agents, is now going after Allen Iverson; offering the 6-0 guard a $10 million contract over two years (discuss).

The $10 million dollar offer is close to the numbers that Iverson is seeking in free agency, but is Iverson willing to head overseas, play in a completely different basketball culture with great expectations?
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Will Allen Iverson be playing overseas?

After a disappointing season with the Detroit Pistons that ended with a phony injury and an immediate release by the Pistons, there do not seem to be many good options for Iverson. The Memphis Grizzlies recently announced they were not very interested anymore and the Miami Heat and New York Knicks have shown only mild interest. In each case Allen would only be a side show to bring in fans, instead of playing on the contender that he was interested in.

Photo source Newscom

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Will Allen Iverson go down in history as Charles Barkely junior?  You know, having a great career, but never winning an NBA Championship?

Poor little AI knocked down 51 points in a losing effort to the Los Angeles Kobe’s.  Allen was 18 for 27 from the field with no 3 pointers and 15 made free throws.  Incredibly the rest of the team went only 18 for 53 with 17 free throws.

LA put all five guys and a few from the stands to cover AI in the fourth quarter and held him to 1 field goal.

Iverson scored 49 points through the first three quarters but was held to a just a layup in the fourth. The Lakers clamped down on the 6-foot guard, forcing the ball out of his hands. The strategy worked. Iverson took only four shots in the last 12 minutes.

“When somebody gets 49 points in the first three quarters obviously its going to draw attention to the other team,” said Iverson, whose career high of 60 came against Orlando on Feb. 12, 2005. “When somebody’s got 49 points they want to make sure I get the ball out of my hands, and that’s what they did. My responsibly is to give it up and my teammates had to make plays.”   source

With Carmelo and Iverson as your stars, you are bound to suffer from a lack of big time defense and this is what Denver has to figure out.  How do you compensate for that?

AI may never get his championship.

NBA Basketball Fan Question  Do you think AI deserves a title?

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