Memphis offer to Iverson unveiled

[JSD]

To add to my previous post...

Even if he makes the the league minimum he'll be investing in his future. If he can reinvent himself he's got at least a 3 year $18 million dollar contract waiting for him.

[huzy]

Here is a snap shot of the money Allen Iverson has made in the NBA:

1999: Iverson signs a 6 year $70 Million deal with 76ers
2001: Iverson signs a 10 year $50 Million endorsement deal with Reebok
2003: Iverson signs a 6 year $76 Million extension with 76ers

In the last decade Allen Iverson has made $196 Million dollars, not including his rookie contract. If you are splitting hairs with any team over a $2 - $5 million  dollar difference in salary, you are a [dang] fool.

I know NBA players are notorious for being irresponsible with money, but after assumed taxes, Iverson is looking at roughly $117 Million dollars in gross income. If you are desperately in search a few million dollars following a calender year that you probably netted $12.6 Million dollars (Iverson's $21 Million salary x 60%) there is something SERIOUSLY wrong beyond basketball.

I think this is about respect, Iverson views himself as a marquee player who wants to "get his" and be paid like a star. That's pathetic.

People continuously talk about Iverson having to reinvent his game on the court to find redemption in his legacy as a player. If at this stage of his career, he is still concerned about his contract, the problem goes beyond the court.

Trust me, I understand that income/salary realities in professional sports are inflated beyond reality and I'm comfortable with that. In this particular case, Iverson should be paying a franchise to allow him the opportunity to redeem his legacy. 

It's not a bout being a star anymore, Allen. You already are. It's not about getting "yours." You already have. It's about leaving a footprint on the league and not pouting into the sunset because you couldn't accept a bench role and decided to split hairs over 2% of your lifetime income. 

[the_Bird]

If Iverson was willing to come off the bench, there are a LOT of teams that would absolutely love to have him in that capacity.  He'd be the best sixth man in the league if he'd accept that role.  Look at the niche Jason Terry has carved out for himself in Dallas (Terry's good enough to start for probably half the teams in the league) and multiply that by 2.  Iverson's an absolutely flawed player, but for someone to come in and dominate the other team's second unit, there would be few, if any, better in the league.

In the end, I really, really dislike Iverson, but it's all about the willingness to accept a lesser role.  If he were WILLING to come in and kind of play in Eddie House's position (although as a slasher, not a shooter), I'd take him aboard in a cocaine heartbeat.  It's not like House doesn't shoot the ball a lot.  It's all about the willingness to accept that role off the bench, though.  Iverson's ego is not going to allow him to play as a third- or fourth-opion, at least not yet.

Keep in mind, Danny seemed intrigued with bringing him aboard the year before the KG trade; he was at least kicking the tires.

Where's Charlotte in this?  They need a scorer - even a flawed, inefficient one, desperately.  He could start.  Play for the coach under whom he had the most success. 

[MaineBleedsGreen]

At some point this season a guard will get injured and give AI an opportunity to prove he's adjusted his game by focusing more on management and playing within himself.

This seems to assume that he has "adjusted his game" as you say ... I don't think he has... I don't think he will. It's very optimistic thinking on your part, but unrealistic in my opinion.

[Finkelskyhook]

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.      Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

[The Walker Wiggle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKB0Z1-TTto

Worth watching.

[Celtic]

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.     Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

There is a huge talent/skill disparity between the current Marbury and Iverson. I would take AI off the bench any day on my team.

[crownsy]

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.     Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

There is a huge talent/skill disparity between the current Marbury and Iverson. I would take AI off the bench any day on my team.

Im not sure i would, as scary as this seems, marbury had the right attitude for this team, he just didn't have the skills.

I'm not sure AI's pride, which as has been discussed by me and others ad nasuem, made him such a dominate guard in his prime despite his obvious physical short comings, can ever translate into submerging himself in a team concept.

He's had two shots at it (Denver as a secondary starter, Detroit as the very role he would be asked to play here) and simply couldn't do it.

Love the player, hate the character flaw

[Finkelskyhook]

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.     Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

There is a huge talent/skill disparity between the current Marbury and Iverson. I would take AI off the bench any day on my team.

Sure worked great for Detroit, didn't it?

Maybe a disparity in talent but equal cancers.  I would love to see him in Cleveland, LAL, or Orlando.  He'd fit right into any of those venues perfectly.....for us.

[Celtic]

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.     Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

There is a huge talent/skill disparity between the current Marbury and Iverson. I would take AI off the bench any day on my team.

Im not sure i would, as scary as this seems, marbury had the right attitude for this team, he just didn't have the skills.

I'm not sure AI's pride, which as has been discussed by me and others ad nasuem, made him such a dominate guard in his prime despite his obvious physical short comings, can ever translate into submerging himself in a team concept.

He's had two shots at it (Denver as a secondary starter, Detroit as the very role he would be asked to play here) and simply couldn't do it.

Love the player, hate the character flaw

I blame Detroit for everything that happened there, they traded for him when they already had the same player on their roster. I think if he was to sign here it would be with the knowledge of his role on the team. I really think that would make a big difference, him making his own decision and coming on his own terms would make a difference.

Look at it from his point of view, despite being a knucklehead, he knows he can go on any team and put up 30 points a game, ball hog or not, there's not a lot of players that can say that.

If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!!

....green as in Milwaukee?  Dallas? 

It's bad enough Danny stunk up the Gahden with Marbury. 

Iverson will never adjust his game beyond the 5 game post-trade honeymoon period.  Then whichever team is stupid enough to sign him will hear his patented incoherent whiny voice and see their team and coach undermined.

What a great role model Iverson would be for that veteran Memphis team with such a talented grizzled veteran like OJ Mayo.     Not to mention his recent sterling success with a rookie coach on his last team.

Wallace must be certifiable to make an offer at all.

There is a huge talent/skill disparity between the current Marbury and Iverson. I would take AI off the bench any day on my team.

Sure worked great for Detroit, didn't it?

Maybe a disparity in talent but equal cancers.  I would love to see him in Cleveland, LAL, or Orlando.  He'd fit right into any of those venues perfectly.....for us.

I would not want to see him on any of those teams, AI can put up major numbers in short periods of time and can really get a team back into a game especially in 5 minute spurts where he really can't hog the ball too much. He would be the kind of guy where as soon as he gets the ball his job is to score period, and he can.

[Finkelskyhook]

I couldn't agree more with blaming Dumars.  It was strictly a financial move for Dumars.  The sad part was how a seemingly competent and decent Dumars could subject rookie coach to a cancer like Iverson.  Dumars wanted to put people in the seats with Iverson and wanted the salary dump at the same time.

Dumars should have benched or bought out Iverson.  But it also shows that Iverson is not remotely able to fit into a winning team concept.

[Celtic]

I couldn't agree more with blaming Dumars.  It was strictly a financial move for Dumars.  The sad part was how a seemingly competent and decent Dumars could subject rookie coach to a cancer like Iverson.  Dumars wanted to put people in the seats with Iverson and wanted the salary dump at the same time.

Dumars should have benched or bought out Iverson.  But it also shows that Iverson is not remotely able to fit into a winning team concept.

There's a lot of truth to that, but I think once Chauncey left town so did the winning ways for that team. I don't think Iverson was the difference maker, more the poor decisions by the general manager.

[ToppersBsktball10]

Well I will tell you what.......
If the guy agrees to come off the bench then he should be wearing green!!!!!! This would be the best place for him to come off the bench with all of the veteran leadership we have. I don't care what any of you guys say, you would be stupid not to want Ai on this team we need a RR back up and a scorer for the second unit, think about it. I f he is the guy on the second unit he can hog the ball all he wants and still score 20-30ppg coming off the bench!
 If you dis agree with me do your self a favor and click this link http://www.realgm.com/src_playerfile/375/allen_iverson/

Look at the guys stats.....He is a freakin freak, why would you not want him coming off your bench? He will not cause a riff on this team with these vets!!!! Oh, he caused one in Detroit with their vets.....Your right he did but they where not a contender and there was no KG PP RA to join the like of Sheed, Plus think about it.......Perk will kick his little scrawny butt if he gets out of line!!!!
Honestly I am not an Ai fan, to the point where I have loved a couple of pairs of his shoes but would not buy them because they where Ai shoes, but I will wear him on my team off the bench as a sixth man and a spark plug scoring machine to help the Celtics dominate the league and to take those smug looks off of Kobe's and LBJ's face!!!!

Ugh here we go with AI's "stats" again.  Look, if this was a struggling Celtics team simply looking to get a "name" in here to sell tickets, etc... then yes maybe it would be a decent idea.  But this team is far from a team that cares about individual stats from anyone... let alone a guy that is one of the biggest team killers in the history of the league.

So who would be a better scorer off the bench??? Tyron Lue to run the point? Daniels? Give me a break!

It took him 42 mpg to get those "stats" that you're getting hard over. What I see is a 6ft SG who has a career FG% of 42% and career 3PFG% of 31% and even more disturbing a career TO rate of 3.6 per game for a 1.7/1 assist to turnover ratio

So what I see is an undersized SG, who is a poor shooter and turns the ball over.

Sure he's had an amazing career from a PPG perspective, and so would Ben Gordon if you built a team around him, let him handle the ball on every possession, and gave him the greenlight to shoot at will... still doesn't make him a PG and still doesn't make me want him as RR's backup.

I'd rather keep the last roster spot open for now. Maybe a mid season trade using TA and SCAL, or bring in Carlos Arroyo ... Iverson is probably the worst idea ever, and I'm assuming Sheed wouldn't take kindly too having Ai on the team either. 

Ben Gordan is not half the player AI is right now...

[BudweiserCeltic]

I couldn't agree more with blaming Dumars.  It was strictly a financial move for Dumars.  The sad part was how a seemingly competent and decent Dumars could subject rookie coach to a cancer like Iverson.  Dumars wanted to put people in the seats with Iverson and wanted the salary dump at the same time.

Dumars should have benched or bought out Iverson.  But it also shows that Iverson is not remotely able to fit into a winning team concept.

There's a lot of truth to that, but I think once Chauncey left town so did the winning ways for that team. I don't think Iverson was the difference maker, more the poor decisions by the general manager.

I can't help to wonder what that team would've been like with an actual coach rather than the piece of crap Curry. I'm hard pressed to find 1 thing he did right.

[greenwise]

Some interesting details from memphis press:

"Iverson -- known as The Answer -- is expected to give the Grizzlies an answer Friday on whether he’ll accept their one-year offer, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

Iverson’s agent, Leon Rose, informed the Grizzlies earlier this week that a decision would come before the weekend. Iverson, 34, is a free agent for the first time in his 13-year career, and has expressed interest in playing for Charlotte and Memphis in recent weeks. (...)

Griz general manager Chris Wallace wouldn’t confirm a timetable on a potential Iverson deal but put the odds of the veteran scorer playing in Memphis at “50-50.” (...)

Meanwhile, the Griz continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario by keeping in touch with other veteran free-agent guards. Team officials are trying to arrange workouts with Brevin Knight, Tyronn Lue, Jacque Vaughn and Luther Head. Any of those players would be a minimum-salary acquisition.

Ronald “Flip” Murray remains a person of interest for the Griz. Securing Murray, however, would require part or all of the Grizzlies’ cap space."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/03/iverson-decision-grizzlies-offer-could-arrive-frid/

Some thoughts:

1. We may know Iverson's choice today

2. Knight, Lue, Vaughn and Head are the league's most coveted back up free agent guards right now. They would all sign for the minimum (potential targets by Ainge

3. No mention of Marbury...

4. Murray is available too but not for the vet minimum?