NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Man, today there was this crazy thought rolling through my head. What if the Pistons had kept Chauncey Billups and Iverson had stayed on the Nuggets?

Nowhere to go with that thought, so how about taking a look at how some of this player movement and coaching movement is working out?

Chauncey Billups from Detroit to Denver
Denver is 7 - 3 in their last 10 games and in 1st place

Allen Iverson from Denver to Detroit
Detroit is 4 - 6 and in second place.

Ron Artest from everywhere to Houston
Houston is 7 - 3 and in 1st place

Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana to Toronto
Toronto is 3 - 7 and dead last in the Atlantic Division

Rick Carlisle to coach Dallas
Dallas is 8 - 2 but only in 4th place in the Southwest

Terry Porter to coach Phoenix
Phoenix is 5 -5 and in second place behind the Lakers

Mike D’Antoni to coach the Knicks
3 - 7 and 4th place in the same division as the Celtics

Mo Williams to Cleveland
9 - 1 in the last 10 and first place over the Pistons

This is a fun one
Elton Brand from L.A. Clippers to Philadelphia
Baron Davis from Golden State to L.A. Clippers
Corey Maggette from L.A. Clippers to Golden State

76er’s 4 -6 3rd place
Clip’s 2 - 8 5th place
Warriors 1 - 9 but still in 3rd place

Which just begs the question, what if Chauncey Billups had never left the Pistons?
Photo source Newscom

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Rodney Stuckey can fly past you, but is he ready to pilot the Pistons to victory?

Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was on the decline. He no longer dominated in the playoffs and often left the team stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Piston warrior, but they were not going to win it all with Billups.

AI will share time with Stuckey and bring more speed and penetration to the offense. This will allow more players to play, like Afflalo, Amir, and Maxiell with an up tempo style.

Is AI the answer? Probably not, but change was needed and Chauncey was from Denver. Joe D cut a deal that seems to benefit both teams.

he’s the guy who has averaged more than 40 minutes a game during his NBA career.

And he says he’s ready if the Pistons want him to revert to his old playing style.

“Yeah, that’s just the competitive nature that I have,” said Iverson, 33. “That’s just inside me. I want to be the guy with the ball. I want to be the guy making the decision. But that’s just not the case anymore, and I have to adjust.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think the bigger picture is winning a championship.”

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Philly is involved in that transition from making the playoffs to being consistently good and challenging to go farther in the playoffs.

EB is not the answer for the 76er’s but he is an important piece to the puzzle.

Philadelphia is still searching for that leader on the court and depending on leadership from the coach. Someone has to rise up and lead with their play. That was the importance of Billups to the Pistons. The 76ers need to find their Billups.

Detroit now belongs to Tayshaun and Stuckey. This will be an experiment due to the fact that neither player has an outgoing personality, a personality to get the team to follow them. This could be where the relentless play of Allen Iverson will fill that void until those players can take over.
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Elton Brand dunking

Philadelphia was down 38 - 13.

Past 76er teams would have quit. We are going to lose, so let’s go home.

But they did not quit and came back to win the game 94 - 92 over the Indiana Pacers. Elton Brand had 15 rebounds and Thaddeus Young had 25 points.

“It was a great comeback by Philadelphia,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “Sometimes you get too big a lead early in the game — and the NBA is a game of momentum shifts.”
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There is no quit with Mo Cheeks as coach. You noticed last year in the playoffs as this Philly team eventually lost to the Detroit Pistons that they just keep coming at you. There is no quit in these 76ers.

Now the Philadelphia team added prize 20 -10 guy, Elton Brand. Now the 76ers have some power on the blocks and who knows how far this team can go.
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Dwyane Wade helps put a whole new spin on which NBA Conference is dominant

This year will finally be the year where balance is restored. The Eastern Conference of the NBA will be dominant. It is time to crush the West!

Let’s start with Elton Brand and Dwyane Wade.

Elton Brand went from west to east, making one potentially decent team subpar out West and making one average Eastern team suddenly look very, very good. Meanwhile, Miami essentially adds a superstar in Dwyane Wade because he’s fully healed, and the Heat should improve from league doormat to something in the general vicinity of average.
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Lesson two would involve the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons.

At the very top and very bottom, the East rules. Boston, obviously, is the reigning champ, and Detroit had the league’s second-best record last season. Meanwhile, I’m projecting every Eastern team to win at least 27 games; rebuilding Western teams in Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento all figure to do worse.

There are wild cards in the new way Dallas and Phoenix will play under new coaches Rick Carlisle and Terry Porter.

On the flip side the Knicks will have a real coach in Mike D’Antoni and Scott Skiles will head up Milwaukee.

All in all, it looks like a great year in the East!

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Elton Brand will give the 76ers a player down on the blocks

Last year the Philadelphia 76ers went to the playoffs to take on the Detroit Pistons. A tall order for a team that had not been to the playoffs in quite a while and for a team that was not loaded with established stars.

The Pistons had a simple strategy for victory. There was no inside game for the 76ers. No dominant player on the box to force a double team. The strategy was to stop Andre Iguodala and make someone else beat them.

Andre Miller tried and at times succeeded, but eventually there were too many Pistons and too few 76ers.

The 76ers decided to find that person down low first and did they ever. Elton Brand, a sure double double guy, signed with the 76ers in the off season. It was a blockbuster deal for a team that was already a young improving playoff team.

Everyone was excited.

Coach Mo Cheeks wanted more. What good was drawing a double team down low if there were no outside shooters to take advantage of that?

Andre Miller liked to drive. Andre Iquodala is more of a slasher. Mo wanted some shooters.

Hello, Kareem Rush. Hello, Donyell Marshall. We haven’t seen them unload through the first three preseason games, but the intimation is that we eventually will. Marshall, who grew up in Reading, has said he came, in large part, to play for his hometown team. Rush said he came because the Sixers needed what he could bring.

Rush drained a career-high 102 threes with the Indiana Pacers last season, profiting from coach Jim O’Brien’s green-light offense. Despite that, he saw a brighter opportunity with the Sixers.

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Now if Philly faces a strong team in the playoffs they will have the full assortment of weapons to throw at them.

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Kevin Garnett dreaming of a second NBA Championship

The Boston Celtics will come into the season as the odds on favorites and for a reason. They are loaded. Just having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen gives you the early nod, but other players and a staunch defense were developed last year as well.

Before we go all gaga over the Celtics, keep in mind that LeBron James took them to 7 games, until his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers held him back. Also, don’t forget the Pistons with their young players starting to stretch their muscles. Orlando will also have some say with Dwight Howard. And lest we forget, the young Philadelphia team picked up Elton Brand.

Boston lost some key players too and it is always hard to come back after winning.

Will winning the title temper the fire and selflessness they displayed last year? How will they compensate for the loss of reserves James Posey and P.J. Brown? Will age finally catch up to Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett (both will be 33 by the end of the season)?
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And what changes were made in the Celtic roster over the off season?

Added: Patrick O’Bryant (Golden State), Darius Miles (Portland), Bill Walker (rookie)

Lost: James Posey (New Orleans), P.J. Brown (retired), Scot Pollard

Posey and Brown played key roles in the playoffs, but Darius Miles is an interesting player trying to comeback in the NBA.

The Boston Celtics are still the kings until someone knocks them off.

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Andre Iguodala is surrounded by Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell

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Andre Iquodala has talent just oozing out of him. If you watched the first round playoff matchup of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons, it was easy to see who was carrying the 76ers.

Andre was the man.

Unfortunately the Pistons are one of the best defensive teams in the league. They blanketed Andre with Tayshaun Prince as the lead defender and help coming from any direction Andre went. Bad grammar, but true story.

Andre still needs to develop his outside game to be a force, but with his strength and athleticism, he is a daunting hoop player.

He is also a restricted free agent.

Andre must be singing with joy, but he isn’t. You see, to sign him you need a lot of money. What team has a lot of money left over?

With last week’s trade of Marcus Camby and his large contract from the Denver Nuggets to the Los Angeles Clippers, the thrifty Grizzlies remain the only club with significant salary-cap space. And they have said they won’t take on expensive contracts. That leaves free agents with few options and even less leverage.

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Time to talk NBA common sense. The 76ers need to sign this guy. They just picked up Elton Brand. They are young and eager. You take a first round playoff team like the 76ers and add Elton Brand to the mix, with Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller at the point, and jumping jack Samuel Dalembert, who knows what can happen?

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Marcus Camby screams “All right, it is the Clippers!”

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You lose an Elton Brand and what do you do?

Marcus Camby, you go get a Marcus Camby. He may not score like Elton, but he rebounds and blocks shots like mad!

Camby led the NBA in blocked shots with 3.61 per game last season, only the second player in league history to do so in three straight seasons.

He averaged 9.1 points and 13.1 rebounds playing a career-best 34.9 minutes per game for the Nuggets. Camby was the league’s defensive player of the year in 2006-07.

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The Clippers had to do something with Corey Maggette leaving and only Baron Davis coming in.

So it must be pretty obvious how Camby fits in.

Camby will be counted on to help replace the 20 points and 10 rebounds that Brand has averaged from the power forward spot in his nine-year career. Camby will join center Chris Kaman, who had by far his best season, but was limited to 56 games by several injuries.

“I love this acquisition for the current makeup of our team,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We are getting a consummate pro who is maybe the best team defender in the league and who has 60 playoff games under his belt.”

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It is the Clippers.

It is the Clippers, still.

Yes, Baron Davis, one of my favorite players to watch has come to town, but it is still the Clippers.

Baron Davis shooting over Andrew Bynum of the Lakers

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Clippers fans have to be bumming. They lost Elton Brand to the 76ers, because the Clippers upset his manager, David Falk. They lost Corey Maggette to the Golden State Warriors, can’t remember why. Maybe money.

Anyway, even with the signing of Baron Davis the Clippers will suck. Baron cannot carry them on his back all by himself.

It sucks to be a Clippers fan when the Lakers are just across town. Just off the top of my head the Lakers in my lifetime have had Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant.

The Clippers in my lifetime have had…the Clippers have had…well, uhh..oh..Elgin Baylor! Not as a player, though, but it still counts doesn’t it? Elgin is vice-president of basketball operations and very good at his job.

NBA Elgin Baylor factoid - From the 1960-61 to the 1962-63 seasons, Baylor averaged 34.8, 38.3 and 34.0 points per game, respectively. His 38.3 point per game season average is the highest for any player other than Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during that season, and being stationed in Washington state, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass. However, despite playing only 48 games on the season, he still managed to score over 1,800 points.

The 71 points Baylor scored on November 15, 1960 was a record at the time. The 61 points he scored in game 5 of the NBA Finals in 1962 is still an NBA Finals record. An underrated rebounder, Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including a remarkable 19.8 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history. Baylor was a 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and went to the NBA All-Star Game 11 times.source

Baron Davis

Baron is one of the great penetrating guards of today. Somehow he can muscle inside or move fluidly inside for easy baskets, but he will miss big Elton Brand.

“Before you ask, there was never an underground handshake with Baron Davis,” Brand said Wednesday, addressing speculation that he’d given Davis some kind of commitment to return to the Clippers.

Today, we’ll find out if Davis feels the same way.

Davis is a two-time NBA All-Star (2002 and 2004). He averaged 21.8 points (12th in the NBA), 7.6 assists (6th in the NBA), 4.7 rebounds and 2.33 steals (3rd in the NBA) while playing in all 82 games for the Golden State Warriors during the 2007-08 season. Davis was just one of four players in the league last season to average 20+ points and seven+ assists (Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Chris Paul) per game.

Entering his tenth NBA season, Davis brings career averages of 17.1 points, 7.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.95 steals and 35.5 minutes per game.

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Could Ronny Turiaf be the newest Golden State Warrior?

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The Laker machine is just as stable as ever, but they may have to lose a player or two. Don’t count the Lakers and Kobe Bryant out just yet.

The Golden State Warriors on Thursday signed Los Angeles Lakers forward and restricted free agent Ronny Turiaf to an offer sheet.

According to a report on the Los Angeles Times’ web site, the Warriors offered a four-year, $17 million contract to Turiaf, who averaged career highs in points (6.6), rebounds (3.9) and minutes (18.7) last season.

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Give a hand to the Warriors. They lost team leader Baron Davis to the Clippers. Baron wanted to play with Elton Brand, but he skipped out and went to the 76ers on advice of his agent, David Falk.

The Warriors then signed Corey Maggette from the Clippers to a five year contract and now they are after Ronny Turiaf of the Lakers.

The Lakers still have the right to match the deal and keep Turiaf, but they are way over the Luxury Tax level and will want to keep Sasha Vujacic for his 3 point shooting. They stand to lose either Vujacic or Turiaf, unless something else happens.

For those Laker fans that are worried, remember that Andrew Bynum returns this coming season.

The Clippers will be…well, the Clippers, what else?

Meanwhile, Golden State will just as crazy a team as ever!

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