Did Detroit Get The Raw End Of The Deal?

Many reactions to the Chauncy Billups-Allen Iverson trade had the Pistons getting the upper hand in the deal. Some say that inserting an elite scorer in the Pistons' sound defensive system can win the Pistons a championship. Some say Billups has lost his touch to win games for the Pistons. But from the start, my reaction to this trade was this: The Nuggets had traded a big time scorer for a WINNER!

Yes, Allen Iverson can score 30 points a night for you, but that doesn't guarantee you a win. Iverson carried the Philadelphia 76ers to an NBA Finals appearance, and that was about it when it comes to team achievements that AI had been involved in. But Billups had been in six straight Conference Finals appearances, and two stints in the NBA Finals. You can say that Detroit has other players to support Billups. Denver has the same quality of players talent wise.

One reaction I got to this trade is "Iverson wasn't winning in Denver because they were badly-managed and badly-coached." Well, here is my answer. If the Nuggets' being badly-coached is the reason for their losing, how can they have a 9-3 record, which included a win over Boston, after the Billups-Iverson trade? The Pistons are at 5-5.

And now, what everyone in Detroit feared already happened - The Answer missed practice. Iverson chose to be with his family while the whole team was sweating their butts off in the gym. Coach Michael Curry said that Iverson will definitely be fined and won't start in their next game.

The way I see it is that this trade will have mixed reactions or grades until we reach 2010. The Pistons claim that they did the trade to net LeBron James in free agency. So if that doesn't happen, or the Pistons don't win a championship from now until that time, I think they wasted a high value player, a leader, and a WINNER in this trade.