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

The word out of Chicago is that Allen Iverson will go to the Bulls in an NBA sign and trade deal with Detroit for shooting guard Ben Gordon. The deal would put high scoring Alan Iverson on the Bulls for probably the end of his career in a pretty good basketball market. This way the Bulls get something for Ben Gordon.

Allen Iverson to the Bulls?

What do the Pistons get out of this deal and didn’t they already sign Ben Gordon? Right now no one can figure out how this helps the Pistons, because they would be seeking salary cap relief. The deal was made in principal, but the free agent market is not officially open for signings until July 8.

The key for the Bulls is if Iverson would come off the bench as a happy camper.

The Bulls also would want to know that Iverson, 34, would be totally committed despite not making the $20 million he’s accustomed to and without playing the primary role he enjoyed for his entire career until he was traded to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups last season. Iverson did not adapt well to diminished minutes with the Pistons, and late in the season vowed to retire before he would come off another team’s bench.

But Iverson apparently is invigorated by the prospect of getting past the Detroit experience. He wrote on his Twitter account Thursday, “For those of you who thought that I was done, think again! … My only preference will be to play for a coach that knows what I bring to the table and that I am going to bring it every night.”
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Ben Gordon would actually get a bigger contract in a sign and trade deal, but his agent did not even talk to the Bulls before agreeing to sign with the Pistons.

This whole deal seems crazy for Detroit and Joe Dumars takes risk, but does not do crazy.
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Allen Iverson is out for the season with an injured back. Some think the back thing is an excuse, but let’s give the player his due. Allen wants to win.

If you look out onto the hardwood court while Allen Iverson is playing, you will see a player that gives his all and does it all the time. That cannot be said for all NBA players. Years ago, Kelly Tripucka used to say that most pro players cruised through the season and then amped it up for the playoffs. Since Kelly had no cruise mode, this was how he explained his ability to outplay better players all year long.

Allen has no cruise mode.

Can Allen be a backup

Unfortunately for the Pistons, Allen could not fit in with the starters. Larry Brown was on some sport talk station the other day saying how Allen needed to score the ball and that is what he does. When Allen was in Philly with Larry, he would be set up to score the ball while his teammates set him up and played the defense. It does not work that way in Detroit. Everyone shares the load.

Now, mysteriously, Allen is out for the season. When this season ends, the experiment with the Pistons will end as well. Allen will be released to free up salary cap, plain and simple.

Iverson, 33, will be a free agent after this season and after the disaster of 2008-09 there is almost no chance the Pistons would want him back next season.

“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” Dumars said in a release. “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this time.”

Iverson, who missed 16 games because of his back injury, practiced Friday morning on a limited basis. He was unavailable for comment. Dumars declined additional comment.

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Will Allen be able to return to the NBA and adapt to being a backup player? Stay tuned.

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AI can't hide underneath the basketball

Allen Iverson a loser? Oh, please, don’t say that. The man tries, he really does. What is he supposed to do? Allen Iverson comes to a tired Piston team with aging veterans that don’t produce and maybe only one really exciting young guy in Stuckey.

Now AI gets hurt and it becomes a circus.

In the meantime, Iverson has spent little time around the team.

His coach said Sunday that the guard’s relative absence is by design: “He doesn’t want to be the story.”

Michael Curry said he talks to Iverson every day, or “every other day, maybe,” to get updates.

He said Iverson often shows up after the games start to get treatment on his back.

“He can’t sit out there. They don’t want him sitting out there that long,” Curry explained. “That’s coming from when he” originally “got evaluated.”

Curry reminded reporters Sunday that Iverson comes up in the daily interview sessions frequently, even though he hasn’t played in nearly two weeks.

“Allen knows that. He knows that … he is almost in a no-win situation, that he is going to be a distraction,” Curry said.
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Is AI a great player? Yes.
Can he play defense? No.
Will he save the Pistons? Well, when he leaves they pick up some big time salary cap money, so maybe he helps them by leaving.
Is it AI’s fault? No. Joe D. knew what he was doing when he took AI. He hoped for more, but it did not happen. Now AI is a Piston and we should enjoy what we get before he is gone forever.

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Houston has McGrady go down to injury.
Detroit has Iverson go down to injury.

Enter stage left…Ron Artest.
Enter stage right…Rip Hamilton.

It is the Rip and Ron show. Together they return. Separately they drive their teams to new heights.

Yes, Houston, we have a winner and it is delivered by Ron Artest.
Yes, Detroit, we can beat the Boston’s and Orlando’s as long as we have a big time performance from Rip Hamilton.

Ron Artest?

When the Houston Rockets acquired Ron Artest, you read in this space that he was brought in as a replacement for Tracy McGrady, not as a complementary piece. I wrote that at the time because I believed that Artest was the perfect fit for the Rick Adelman system - a fit that McGrady could never be. Adelman knew that, he communicated it, and GM Daryl Morey made it happen.

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Rip Hamilton?

The Pistons are 2-0 since a back injury took Iverson out of the rotation, and those two wins came over two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference: Orlando and Boston. Hamilton recorded 31 points (11-18FG) and six assists against Orlando, followed by 25 points, nine assists, and six rebounds against Boston. The chemistry that’s been missing is back, and it’s no coincidence that it’s returned as Iverson sits.

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Oh, by the way, the Nuggets came into Detroit tonight and Chauncey Billups put up plenty of daggers for 34 big ones, but Rip had 21 and the Pistons won the game.

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Allen Iverson doing what he does best

So with Rip Hamilton coming back, who will it be? Allen Iverson or Rip Hamilton in the starting lineup?

Will it be Hamilton, guard Allen Iverson or power forward Amir Johnson?

After practice, Curry said a decision hasn’t been made but his comments seemed to indicate where he was leaning.

“We’ve seen just from the data in our games that we know defensively … it’s no secret when we got two bigs and (Tayshaun Prince) at the three-spot we’re our best defensively and at the end of the day that’s normally what’s going to drive most of our decisions,” Curry said.

If he keeps that line of thinking that would mean either Hamilton or Iverson would come off the bench.

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Allen Iverson has been a surprise to many, as he has played well and the Pistons have been able to win with him in games.

One can’t help but notice that when the younger Pistons, Amir, Maxiell, Stuckey, and Afflalo are in the game the Pistons are much faster and play well with Iverson. When the older Pistons, Prince, Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace are on the court, it is a much more half court game and the pace is noticeably slower. Iverson does not fit quite as well with that group.

The real question is not who should be starting, but how do you mesh both players into the lineup. The Pistons need the relentless scoring of AI and his up tempo game, but come playoff time the game goes more half court and the curl plays for mid range jumpers by Hamilton become very important to winning.

Coach Curry has to find a way to get both players involved.

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Allen Iverson gets a Michael Curry hug after game winner against Clippers

Allen Iverson a Piston.

Say it over slowly. Aaallleeennn IIIVvveerrsssoonnn aaa Pppiiiissstttooonnn. There, does that feel better?

Yeah, he is trying to fit in and be a good teammate. The Pistons are all about the no star concept. Joe D realized he could win with a bunch of good players or near great players without the superstars. Did he not want superstars? Heck no, he wants them bad, but they are hard to come by and even harder to harness.

Bring in Allen from stage left or Denver. AI wants a title. He can taste it. What better way to go for one than to fit in on a team that goes to the conference finals every year.

This team is the future for Rodney Stuckey, but the present for AI. Joe D may not give him a future in Detroit. His contract is worth too much. AI must win now, so no sacrifice is too great.

If Iverson is less spectacular, he’s also more intriguing than he’s been in a while. For a while he became so wrapped in controversy that we forgot about what he did right. He’s the shortest player among the top 10 career scoring leaders. He was picking himself off the floor and signing up for more punishment long before Dwyane Wade made an ad campaign out of it.

Allen Iverson is now just one of the guys.His presence also makes the Pistons a more compelling story. They aren’t just the same cast of characters we’ve been watching since 2004, give or take a Ben Wallace. And Iverson is trying to do what so many have said he could not: sacrifice for the good of the team. That presents a paradox: To get his place in history, he’ll have to give up his place in history.

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LeBron James with two hands raised

What are you talking about? The Cavaliers and LeBron James are in 1st place, 5 and one half games up on the streaking Pistons.

Oh, not that. The Cavaliers are 2nd in the ESPN Power Rankings by Marc Stein. How does LeBron do it? Other than Mo Williams, there is no one on LeBron’s team of any merit.

This is a big deal, because they had to push out the Boston Celtics to do it and that just does not happen, but the Celtics are slumping or something.

Rajon Rondo says the Celtics are absolutely, positively “not in a slump.” And he’s right. After a 27-2 start, I’d say losing four out of six for the first time ever in the KG-Pierce-Allen era ranks as more than a slump.
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Speaking of my Pistons, they are on a roll with AI and Rodney Stuckey in the starting lineup.

Detroit’s return to the top 10 is the other rankings headline this week, after the Pistons — now 13-3 since moving Rodney Stuckey into the starting lineup — uncharacteristically spent five straight weeks in the teens, ranging from No. 13 to No. 17.

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What do you think?

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The trade rumors are heating up and Mark Cuban would love to have Rasheed Wallace.

The Pistons continue to fade with Allen Iverson, but Joe Dumars isn’t expected to try to find a new home for his star guard.

Rasheed Wallace could be another story. According to one Eastern Conference executive, the Pistons will take calls on Wallace. One team mentioned as a potential destination is Dallas.

“That’s a ‘Mark Cuban move,’ ” said an Eastern Conference executive. “Cuban would take Rasheed, no question. It would be bold, but he knows he’s got to do something to spark his team.”

Cuban tried that last season when he acquired Jason Kidd, but ended up making a mistake by giving the Nets Devin Harris.

The Mavs don’t appear to have enough to get Wallace. And the Pistons would like to use Wallace’s money - along with Iverson’s - to create enough cap space to make a run at LeBron James and/or Chris Bosh in two summers.

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Let us put this one in the farfetched column, but it is no doubt that Joe Dumars would move Wallace for the right offer.

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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?
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Allen Iverson getting some love from Coach Michael Curry

So it seems funny that so many fans are suddenly all over Joe Dumars case about the Allen Iverson trade. It is actually pretty rare in sports for both teams to get quality star players in any trade.

In this case Joe D gets a trading A+.

How can this be, you ask? Haven’t they lost a ton of games since AI rode into town, you ask?

Well, it can be and yes they have lost more than they usually seem to lose.

But consider the benefits of this trade.

The transition Dumars so boldly made in dumping Billups and his $36.3 million stretching out through 2010-11 was as shrewd and forward-thinking as it gets in this what-have-you-done-for-me-yesterday league. Clearing cap space by acquiring a huge expiring contract — in Iverson’s case, $21.9 million — is a tried-and-true rebuilding tactic. When the expiring contract is attached to Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith or some other fading veteran, the case can easily be made to fans reaching deep into their pockets that it’s the right move for the future.

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Now did you really think Detroit was going to win it all this year with an aging Billups? Haven’t you noticed how he failed to produce big in the last two playoffs? No knock on Chauncey, but his better days have come and gone. Denver gets a nice boost from Chauncey, because he settles them down and calmly spreads the ball around. That was not going to help the aging Piston starters.

By the way, have you seen AI play with the Piston backups? Amir, Maxiell, Afflalo, and new starter Stuckey, can fly up the floor and blend in better with the attacking Iverson.

Hey, if the experiment fails, AI and Rasheed Wallace will be sent packing and two new young stars will be in their place.

Trading A+.

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