Is Iverson worth anything anymore?

[jdub1660]

We don't know the details of this personal leave matter, but lets assume he can't take it in Memphis. Why he went there? No clue. He knew he'd be behind Conley and Mayo, but maybe he had some memory loss at how bad the Grizzlies were. Maybe he thought he could turn the team around, but he couldn't and cant. ...so..

Is he worth anything? Another posted noted that Ainge could be calling Memphis, but would AI help or hurt us? Tony Allen means nothing to the team anymore besides an expiring contract and luxury tax. The big question would be if AI could play bench for a real championship team?(b/c we all knew Detroit was downhill after their championship team fell apart)

[LB3533]

If AI wasn't going to cause any chemistry issues or inner team turmoil, than I would rather have AI off our bench than Tony Allen.

But a healthy Tony Allen, off our bench, isn't awful either.

I still have hope left for Tony, he just needs to get over all his injuries and stay healthy for once.

[byennie]

Talent-wise, Iverson still trumps bench guys like Eddie House and Tony Allen by a wide margin. Everyone wants to throw his talent under the bus as he becomes more of a villain, but he's only 1 ugly season removed from putting up 26 PPG / 7 APG / 2 STL in Denver, and shooting 46% doing it (with 10 FTA). He sleepwalked through Detroit last year and put up 17 / 5. He's not a franchise guy any more, but he's still very good.

Kevin Garnett has lost a step or 2 (or 3) since his prime. Heck, so has Paul Pierce and so has Ray Allen. But nobody would argue for a second that they are not still very good players. Iverson is like that talent-wise, right there with the big 3. He's just possibly out of his mind as well.

All I ask is please, none of this "he was never that good, he shot too much" stuff. The dude was spectacular. He's just a head case as well.

If someone, anyone could convince Iverson to come to Boston, play defense, pass the ball, and take Eddie House's minutes plus some extra rest for Ray Ray and Pierce, and push Daniels back to SF where he belongs all the time... he could quite possibly write his ticket to the HOF and cement his legacy. We would have the deepest squad in the league, no question about it. 15 MPG from House, a few minutes each from Rondo and Allen, some spot starts... it could totally work. You know, if Iverson decided to accept a role and play for the team concept. Ha!!!

I think the only way we would go after Iverson would be if Rondo got hurt. And I'd certainly rather keep Rondo on the court. But if that happened (knock on wood knock on wood), then we could start Iverson, play up the whole "Big 4" and see what happened versus handing over the PG reigns to House and Daniels. Our window is limited and it would probably be worth the gamble. Iverson starts and gets a clear shot at a title.

[jdub1660]

Talent-wise, Iverson still trumps bench guys like Eddie House and Tony Allen by a wide margin. Everyone wants to throw his talent under the bus as he becomes more of a villain, but he's only 1 ugly season removed from putting up 26 PPG / 7 APG / 2 STL in Denver, and shooting 46% doing it (with 10 FTA). He sleepwalked through Detroit last year and put up 17 / 5. He's not a franchise guy any more, but he's still very good.

Kevin Garnett has lost a step or 2 (or 3) since his prime. Heck, so has Paul Pierce and so has Ray Allen. But nobody would argue for a second that they are not still very good players. Iverson is like that talent-wise, right there with the big 3. He's just possibly out of his mind as well.

All I ask is please, none of this "he was never that good, he shot too much" stuff. The dude was spectacular. He's just a head case as well.

If someone, anyone could convince Iverson to come to Boston, play defense, pass the ball, and take Eddie House's minutes plus some extra rest for Ray Ray and Pierce, and push Daniels back to SF where he belongs all the time... he could quite possibly write his ticket to the HOF and cement his legacy. We would have the deepest squad in the league, no question about it. 15 MPG from House, a few minutes each from Rondo and Allen, some spot starts... it could totally work. You know, if Iverson decided to accept a role and play for the team concept. Ha!!!

I think the only way we would go after Iverson would be if Rondo got hurt. And I'd certainly rather keep Rondo on the court. But if that happened (knock on wood knock on wood), then we could start Iverson, play up the whole "Big 4" and see what happened versus handing over the PG reigns to House and Daniels. Our window is limited and it would probably be worth the gamble. Iverson starts and gets a clear shot at a title.

TP for defending AI and not jumping the gun to downing his talent. I do think it's more of a dream than a reality that he could come here and accept that role, but you never know. Even if Rondo isn't hurt, AI could still start some games later in the season just to rest the starters. Sure, we might lose the opportunity to beat the 72-10 season record, but who cares. It's post season that counts right?

[wdleehi]

This one was tough, but I had to go with Lucky. 


AI is only worth something to a terrible team that is willing to let him start, be the star just to sell tickets. 


To teams looking to grow or win, he is useless and worthless.

[NextCeltic34]

Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine

If it doesn't work out, just cut him and swallow the salary.

[wdleehi]

Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine

If it doesn't work out, just cut him and swallow the salary.

Scali can do more to help this team win then AI.


The Celtics already have four players that can do what AI does.  Pierce, KG, Ray and Wallace could all force up bad shots and shoot 40 % while score 26+ points.

[moiso]

Eddie House is a better player than AI right now.  They are both primarily offensive players but the difference is that when Eddie shoots, the ball is far more likely to go through the net.
I wouldn't even trade TA for him.  At least TA will play some D and not look to pad his offensive stats.  AI has bad energy and I wouldn't want him anywhere around the Celts.

[scootman]

i want him no wheres near this team. hes a selfish has been

[Rtpas11]

Tried doing a trade on espn Machine but AI name can't be chosen for trade.

 Anyhow i'm looking to trade...

Tony Allen/JR Giddens/ (2 Expirings) for Allen Iverson (1 Disgruntled Expiring)

He said he'll rather play for a good team and come off the bench than a bad team.

1:Eddie
2:Iverson
3:Daniels
4:Davis
5:Wallace

I like Scal, Walker and I like Lester (keep them)

[LB3533]

Eddie House is a one dimensional player and at times a huge liability when he isn't attempting to shoot or trying to play Point Guard.

Daniels is a more complete player, but his talent is subpar compared to AI.

Tony Allen doesn't seem to have the health, nor the right frame of mind to become a consistent rotational player.

Scal is a fringe rotational player, at best, on a championship team.

[Bahku]

I think it would be very difficult to fit Iverson into a team like this ... he's the kind of guy who only does well if the team is built around him. But all this down-play of his skills and basketball ability is just crazy ... regardless of what has happened recently, AI is an amazing basketball player, and one of the best of this current generation of players. To make the assumption that he's not worth anything ... well, that's just not reality.

[Thruthelookingglass]

i want him no wheres near this team. hes a selfish has been

Roger that.  I'm happy to roll with the team we have.

[Celtics17]

Talent wise AI is one of the best, if not the best scorer of the last 10 years. He could have easily broken MJ's 63 point playoff game one playoffs. He was at low to mid 50's with about 10 minutes to go in the fourth of one game. Chemistry wise, well, who knows on that one? He could very easily be subtraction by addition. He's kind of like adding Dennis Rodman to the Bulls. Oh yeah, that worked out pretty well as I remember. Best regualar season record ever including the title.

[revcummings]

If I was Danny I'd talk with the big three and Sheed and see what they thought. To be fair to AI it sounds like the Detroit situation was a complete mess and not just because of him.

We already know that TA and JR are not in the C's long term plans and if Memphis would do this trade and AI accepted his role it would be great, if not we clear up at least one roster spot, possibly two if AI doesn't work out.

It may be a gamble but I'd role the dice on this one!