Tuesday, July 15, 2008

NBA Free Agency 2008 - the Allen Iverson Effect

Apparently, in a strict salary dumping move, the Denver Nuggets dumped Marcus Camby in exchange for a 2nd-round pick. Camby was due to make $8 million this season, and almost $8 next season. What's most interesting about this maneuver, is that the Denver Nuggets have appeared to have conceded this season, as it would be unlikely that they can find a capable center to replace Camby. Moreover, Camby was one of the few players on the team even playing defense.

The most ironic part about this Camby deal is that Iverson was traded in December 2006 out of Philly, to Denver, so he could be play for a "contending team." Denver gave up PG Andre Miller, F Joe Smith, and two 1st round picks. Who could of guessed that only 1.5 seasons later, Iverson's departure would have only helped to created the cap space for the 76ers to acquire Elton Brand, which then resulted in the Clippers stealing Camby to fill the void left by Brand's departure! The 76ers have rapidly rebuilt their team with PG Andre Miller, a more traditional PG, who has helped make the 76ers into a better team as Iguodala and Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young all played well this past season. Interestingly enough, Iguodala, Louis Williams, and Dalembert were already on the 76ers when Iverson left... he just did not stay long enough for those players to develop.

Perhaps even more interesting in this trade is the fact that this makes Allen Iverson completely expendable. Iverson is in the last year of his deal which pays him $21 million. This means that Iverson could be traded elsewhere at some point this season once the Nuggets start losing games, most likely for a combination of younger players. Of course, for the Nuggets to complete a trade, they would have to find a suitor. It should be interesting to see which team decides to roll the dice with Iverson, and to see what kind of market value Iverson has at this point in his career.

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