I shudder to post anything by Sam Smith, but here's something to pass the time:
Ask Sam Smith
The Tribune's pro basketball reporter answers reader questions each week during the season
December 12, 2006, 2:23 PM CST
Sorry if my English is bad but I haven't written English for a long time. But my question is who do you think will take AI (Allen Iverson)? Would it make sense for Chicago to trade Ben Gordon, Michael Sweetney and possibly, Adrian Griffin or someone else that doesn't do much for the team? --Guðjón Hilmarsson, Iceland
The majority of the questions I've gotten in the past few days have been about the Bulls trading for Iverson. I decided to answer this one at length because I have to have sympathy for someone who lives in a worse climate that I do, and there aren't many. And you probably can't get across the country and find Phoenix or L.A. Heck, we admire you. Most Americans can't write English. So here goes: No way, AI! What is infinity in reverse? That's the chance of the Bulls pursuing Iverson. Though we'd love to see him at practice--Yes, Practice!--with Scott Skiles.
The main rumor has him going to Sacramento and you'd pay to watch Iverson and Ron Artest on the same team. The Trib's sports editor, Dan McGrath, worked in Sacramento and we were commenting the other night on Eric Musselman wanting to return to coaching in the NBA in the worst way, and this would be the definition of the worst way. This is the product of two goofy, fun loving brothers owning a basketball team and making the personnel decisions.
It's been no secret from the beginning that Mike Bibby and Artest have not gotten along and it's starting to come apart with Artest demanding the ball and getting pretty open about his lack of respect for Bibby. The feeling seems mutual. I wouldn't be surprised if Bibby would like to get out and has a free-agent option hanging over the team, though I can't see anyone paying him the $13.5 million he's due next season if he doesn't exercise the option to leave. But it's not that a lot of NBA deals work or make sense, anyway, so you never can be truly surprised. The truism I've always found in NBA trades is the team knows it hates its guy and figures it can't hate the other team's guy as much. This usually changes after a short time. One possible holdup is the Dec. 15 date for some free agents to be dealt. Another is I'd guess the 76ers would like to reroute Bibby somewhere, likely with Chris Webber, who blew off another shootaround and would love to be gone, though likely not as much as the 76ers would like him out. Regarding the Kings, though, you'd then almost have to trade for Stephen Jackson. I can dream, can't I?
Just last week, I wrote a story rating Iverson among the top five little men of all time in the NBA. I admire what he has accomplished as a player at his size. His scoring ability with teams sizing him up and going after him has been amazing. But he's a coach killer and team destroyer because of his work habits or lack of them. You can't have your best player not practicing. Everyone watches what the best player does. That alone is reason why the Bulls never would touch him. For the Bulls, he plays 180 degrees (360 degrees if you ask the players) from the way they play. The Bulls rely on ball movement and player movement in addition to aggressive man defense with help. Iverson holds the ball, over dribbles and plays the lanes to try to get steals. He is the opposite of everything they believe in and preach and would take away from the development of their players.
In fact, to me there's almost no place he fits. Sacramento would be laughable. Which, of course, is why it's probably the leading contender. Though Artest defends, he probably has the worst shot selection in the league, except maybe for Iverson. There would never have been anything like this. You'd have to have the Kings play with a red-white-and-blue ball. The Bobcats, Pacers, Celtics, Warriors and Clippers have been mentioned, but the destinations that make the most sense are Denver and Minnesota. Denver would be a mistake as well, though you know George Karl loves the Iverson kind of player. Karl loves the competitor with an edge, but also loves to engage those kinds of players. His insistence on bringing Anthony Mason to the Bucks ruined that team. While Denver is an entertaining team, the last thing they need is more offense. Yes, Carmelo Anthony needs help, but more on defense. I'm not sure Anthony would do well with Iverson taking so many shots and adding Iverson would create an even worse defensive team, if that is even possible. And it's hard to see Iverson deferring to Anthony, whom Iverson helped lead astray on the 2004 Olympic team. Anthony has been trying to resurrect his reputation since. The talk is the 76ers are interested in a Denver deal as they'd love to put Iverson where he'll fail as they now fault him for their mess, but are believed to be trying to find a taker for Andre Miller in a three-way deal.
Iverson needs to play with a better player, if that is possible, and the only one is Kevin Garnett, who, by the way, is lobbying for Iverson and it would be hard to see Minnesota rejecting that. Iverson really can be a playmaker, though the only time I've ever seen him even try was the occasional All Star game with the fancy pass, and, more significantly, the 2003 USA team in Puerto Rico. That team was filled with veteran stars, many who got out before the 2004 Olympics, and Iverson was terrific. He tried, worked at it and sacrificed on offense because he respected those players. He'll respect Garnett, and Garnett will work his backside off to grab all Iverson's missed shots and get them back to him, a one-man version of what the 76ers had going when they went to the Finals in 2001. I believe that's the only place Iverson will defer and then be available to finish the games, which Garnett doesn't care to do, perhaps the lone hole in his game. It would be an intriguing pairing and perhaps save Iverson's legacy. It's best for Iverson, but who knows if the 76ers will agree if it's best for them. We should see soon, though there are not many teams strong enough to truly take on Iverson's personality and game.
I wish I could have written this as a column for the newspaper, but we are devoting much of our space this week to apologies from all our writers to Rex Grossman and to anecdotes on when Devin Hester first learned to run and how it felt.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...msmith,1,3127584.story?coll=cs-home-headlines
