"We DO/DON'T Want Allen Iverson" Thread (merged)

[nickagneta]

Sorry I can't think of an intelligent reason not to take the risk. He can be had ridiculously cheap and with a non-guaranteed contract. He acts up or it doesn't work out. CUT HIM problem solved. Just don't get it.

1.) You have invested tens of millions of dollars in high draft picks that need the playing time.

2.) The players on the team do not like Iverson and neither does the coach and you don't want locker room problems

3.) You don't want him influencing your younger players and teaching them that practice isn't important and other stuff Iverson is famous for

4.) If you are over the salary cap you have to pay twice the league subsidized veteran minimum and if you cut him you've wasted $900K

5.) You know he will quit on you when he doesn't get to start

6.) You know his type of basketball style is completely against everything you are running on the court and expecting the other 14 players to perform.

7.) You know he's a dirtbag and a headache and just don't want to deal with him.

[Eric_Suede]

Sorry I can't think of an intelligent reason not to take the risk. He can be had ridiculously cheap and with a non-guaranteed contract. He acts up or it doesn't work out. CUT HIM problem solved. Just don't get it.

1.) You have invested tens of millions of dollars in high draft picks that need the playing time.

2.) The players on the team do not like Iverson and neither does the coach and you don't want locker room problems

3.) You don't want him influencing your younger players and teaching them that practice isn't important and other stuff Iverson is famous for

4.) If you are over the salary cap you have to pay twice the league subsidized veteran minimum and if you cut him you've wasted $900K

5.) You know he will quit on you when he doesn't get to start

6.) You know his type of basketball style is completely against everything you are running on the court and expecting the other 14 players to perform.

7.) You know he's a dirtbag and a headache and just don't want to deal with him.

1) what pg does charlotte have that the bobcats spent millions on? Their starter signed with another team. They have Forever injured livingston & DJ to look forward to. (Yeah their PG position is looking great) 

2) what evidence do you have that suggest he doesn't get along with or players on Bobcats roster don't like him. You MAY have a point with the coach but brown has said in the past he wouldn't mind coaching AI again.

3)people need to let that practice thing go. Goodness that was taken out of context anyhow. Surely other players have had more serious gaffs than that. How many years ago was that anyway?

4) After the bobcats waived Dampier they're like 6 million under the cap. Again AI can be had in exchange for a washing machine and a york peppermint patty.

5) we know he'll quit on a team like MEMPHIS if he's lured there to sell tickets yet asked to start behind a scrub. Which to me is understandable. Paul Pierce is getting up there, But imagine if he were traded to the nets but had to play behind terrence williams. I mean REALLY? Terrence Williams? Dude that would be a slap in Paul's face for the nets to tell lure him there telling him they want him to help turn the franchise around then ask him to do that. Likewise Nick I know we've been back & forth with this in the past but i'm sorry , Conley is a scrub. Expecting a Hall of famer to play behind him is an insult. Especially when you were given the impression that your role is to help rebound the team as memphis told AI.

6) Bobcats NEED a scorer to compliment Jackson.nuff said. Did you see their effort in the playoffs? they need scoring. 

7) Again just your opinion. You don't know AI.(neither do I) but I can't recall many fight's he's been in. Or Tecs. Quite frankly Ron Artest in the last few years has demonstrated more mental instability than AI. He even had "ego" moments when playing for Sacramento. Besides before he became a Celtic, wasn't it fair to say that Rasheed Wallace had a reputation for being a headcase and a "dirtbag"?

[Eric_Suede]

I mean guys I get it. Many of you hate AI. I'm totally on board with you guys who say NO to AI in green. I've also faced the fact that he's 35 , supposedly lost it blah blah, But.. Bottomline, i'm of the opinion that it's worth the risk. Memphis is fine, AI's stint there didn't "RUIN THE FRANCHISE", Denver is fine. My thing is again, Your Team Sucks, Even before the season starts you know & understand that the playoffs is like 3 years away. You're having problems putting butts in seats, You need scoring.       If it doesn't work out on the court fine. Don't you think simply the ticket sales he will generate alone would make it worthwhile for ONE SEASON. Again I'm not talking long term, Max contract. Were talking 1 season, dirt cheap funds and a non-guaranteed contract. Sorry if I disagree with you guys but to me that would be more appealing to me if I was a GM as opposed to looking on my roster and i'm depending on guys like Terrence Williams, Mike Conley & corey brewer. All young guys who #1 demand more money, #2 can't get it done or translate their skills into wins or Ticket sales. Just my opinion. Awful teams are missing out on an opportunity.

[moiso]

Sorry I can't think of an intelligent reason not to take the risk. He can be had ridiculously cheap and with a non-guaranteed contract. He acts up or it doesn't work out. CUT HIM problem solved. Just don't get it.

1.) You have invested tens of millions of dollars in high draft picks that need the playing time.

2.) The players on the team do not like Iverson and neither does the coach and you don't want locker room problems

3.) You don't want him influencing your younger players and teaching them that practice isn't important and other stuff Iverson is famous for

4.) If you are over the salary cap you have to pay twice the league subsidized veteran minimum and if you cut him you've wasted $900K

5.) You know he will quit on you when he doesn't get to start

6.) You know his type of basketball style is completely against everything you are running on the court and expecting the other 14 players to perform.

7.) You know he's a dirtbag and a headache and just don't want to deal with him.

1) what pg does charlotte have that the bobcats spent millions on? Their starter signed with another team. They have Forever injured livingston & DJ to look forward to. (Yeah their PG position is looking great) 

2) what evidence do you have that suggest he doesn't get along with or players on Bobcats roster don't like him. You MAY have a point with the coach but brown has said in the past he wouldn't mind coaching AI again.

3)people need to let that practice thing go. Goodness that was taken out of context anyhow. Surely other players have had more serious gaffs than that. How many years ago was that anyway?

4) After the bobcats waived Dampier they're like 6 million under the cap. Again AI can be had in exchange for a washing machine and a york peppermint patty.

5) we know he'll quit on a team like MEMPHIS if he's lured there to sell tickets yet asked to start behind a scrub. Which to me is understandable. Paul Pierce is getting up there, But imagine if he were traded to the nets but had to play behind terrence williams. I mean REALLY? Terrence Williams? Dude that would be a slap in Paul's face for the nets to tell lure him there telling him they want him to help turn the franchise around then ask him to do that. Likewise Nick I know we've been back & forth with this in the past but i'm sorry , Conley is a scrub. Expecting a Hall of famer to play behind him is an insult. Especially when you were given the impression that your role is to help rebound the team as memphis told AI.

6) Bobcats NEED a scorer to compliment Jackson.nuff said. Did you see their effort in the playoffs? they need scoring. 

7) Again just your opinion. You don't know AI.(neither do I) but I can't recall many fight's he's been in. Or Tecs. Quite frankly Ron Artest in the last few years has demonstrated more mental instability than AI. He even had "ego" moments when playing for Sacramento. Besides before he became a Celtic, wasn't it fair to say that Rasheed Wallace had a reputation for being a headcase and a "dirtbag"?

Conley plays for the team, Iverson plays for himself.  I'd rather have Conley as my starting point guard.

In my opinion, Rasheed still fits that description.  He's a little less selfish than AI, however.

[nickagneta]

Sorry I can't think of an intelligent reason not to take the risk. He can be had ridiculously cheap and with a non-guaranteed contract. He acts up or it doesn't work out. CUT HIM problem solved. Just don't get it.

1.) You have invested tens of millions of dollars in high draft picks that need the playing time.

2.) The players on the team do not like Iverson and neither does the coach and you don't want locker room problems

3.) You don't want him influencing your younger players and teaching them that practice isn't important and other stuff Iverson is famous for

4.) If you are over the salary cap you have to pay twice the league subsidized veteran minimum and if you cut him you've wasted $900K

5.) You know he will quit on you when he doesn't get to start

6.) You know his type of basketball style is completely against everything you are running on the court and expecting the other 14 players to perform.

7.) You know he's a dirtbag and a headache and just don't want to deal with him.

1) what pg does charlotte have that the bobcats spent millions on? Their starter signed with another team. They have Forever injured livingston & DJ to look forward to. (Yeah their PG position is looking great) 

2) what evidence do you have that suggest he doesn't get along with or players on Bobcats roster don't like him. You MAY have a point with the coach but brown has said in the past he wouldn't mind coaching AI again.

3)people need to let that practice thing go. Goodness that was taken out of context anyhow. Surely other players have had more serious gaffs than that. How many years ago was that anyway?

4) After the bobcats waived Dampier they're like 6 million under the cap. Again AI can be had in exchange for a washing machine and a york peppermint patty.

5) we know he'll quit on a team like MEMPHIS if he's lured there to sell tickets yet asked to start behind a scrub. Which to me is understandable. Paul Pierce is getting up there, But imagine if he were traded to the nets but had to play behind terrence williams. I mean REALLY? Terrence Williams? Dude that would be a slap in Paul's face for the nets to tell lure him there telling him they want him to help turn the franchise around then ask him to do that. Likewise Nick I know we've been back & forth with this in the past but i'm sorry , Conley is a scrub. Expecting a Hall of famer to play behind him is an insult. Especially when you were given the impression that your role is to help rebound the team as memphis told AI.

6) Bobcats NEED a scorer to compliment Jackson.nuff said. Did you see their effort in the playoffs? they need scoring. 

7) Again just your opinion. You don't know AI.(neither do I) but I can't recall many fight's he's been in. Or Tecs. Quite frankly Ron Artest in the last few years has demonstrated more mental instability than AI. He even had "ego" moments when playing for Sacramento. Besides before he became a Celtic, wasn't it fair to say that Rasheed Wallace had a reputation for being a headcase and a "dirtbag"?

Conley plays for the team, Iverson plays for himself.  I'd rather have Conley as my starting point guard.

In my opinion, Rasheed still fits that description.  He's a little less selfish than AI, however.

Let's also take into consideration that in Charlotte, which seems to be the team Eric thinks should sign AI, you sign AI, make him your PG and guess what, Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace and Tyrus Thomas become much less effective.

That team needs a pass first PG not a shoot first, second, third, think about passing but shoot fourth and then pass fifth PG. They already have close to $20 million invested in Shaun Livingston and DJ Augustin, very young PGs.

They are not going to sign Iverson to make the team, a playoff team at that, less efficient both offensively and defensively while sitting down a young PG who could be developing on the court and pay that PG millions of dollars. That isn't happening it's a bad, bad, bad business decision.

Why would they do it? To try to draw more folks into the arena to watch a has been superstar in a market that has been a horrible draw from the moment they put a franchise there and in a market where they have already lost an NBA franchise once for non attendance because UNC and Duke and NC State are more popular draws?

It's not happening there and that is probably THE most likely landing spot.

[chambers]

I have a feeling not too many teams will be going after him(for certain reasons).
But given his time off and time away from the game, he could potentially be what we wanted Starbury to be- maybe a rich mans version of Sam Cassell.

We need bench scoring, and combined with Delonte, he'd be a guy who can create his own shot and run the ball well with Green+delonte+ Ray in a small line up.
He'd bring toughness and a good 8-10 points off the bench every night, with good defense(when he choose too) and I know this guy wants a ring.

Attitude/off court problems aside, he could be a cheap and good option mixed in with all the vet's on our team.
Probably a cheap and good gamble.

thoughts?

[celticsclay]

You will probably get slammed from this idea, as it wasn't very popular even a few years ago. I am actually a fan of iverson and have been trying to find out what happened to him in Turkey, I know he had a serious injury and was having an operation here, but couldn't find out what happened after that. So the fact that you can't even find coverage of him kind of says a lot about the chances of him playing in the nba.  The idea of him joining any team in the NBA seems even more unlikely than antoine walker at this point...

[Silent Storm]

He's a cancer in the locker room and he needs the ball in his hands to make any semblance of a contribution to a team at this point. He's washed up and has ended his storied career in a very unflattering way. His presence in Detroit and Denver was a complete failure. I would rather have Bradley and West backing up Rondo.

[JoT]

You will probably get slammed from this idea, as it wasn't very popular even a few years ago. I am actually a fan of iverson and have been trying to find out what happened to him in Turkey, I know he had a serious injury and was having an operation here, but couldn't find out what happened after that. So the fact that you can't even find coverage of him kind of says a lot about the chances of him playing in the nba.  The idea of him joining any team in the NBA seems even more unlikely than antoine walker at this point...

He didn't get no surgery. Allen said he didn't need it. How do I know? Because for a short amount of time I was into Iverson and the news about him. He's a player I was and still am a fan of and at times will defend him, but he ain't coming back.

The man didn't even go back to Turkey like he said he would. He had a calf injury that would make him come back in April and he didn't. He got dropped from the team in Turkey and now does the things that be did before he left that arent too good.
Iverson attitude has not changed and he's still the immature guy. Not trying to sound personal, but from the news and people who have seen him recently, he would not fit this team at all.  

[chambers]

You will probably get slammed from this idea, as it wasn't very popular even a few years ago. I am actually a fan of iverson and have been trying to find out what happened to him in Turkey, I know he had a serious injury and was having an operation here, but couldn't find out what happened after that. So the fact that you can't even find coverage of him kind of says a lot about the chances of him playing in the nba.  The idea of him joining any team in the NBA seems even more unlikely than antoine walker at this point...

He didn't get no surgery. Allen said he didn't need it. How do I know? Because for a short amount of time I was into Iverson and the news about him. He's a player I was and still am a fan of and at times will defend him, but he ain't coming back.

The man didn't even go back to Turkey like he said he would. He had a calf injury that would make him come back in April and he didn't. He got dropped from the team in Turkey and now does the things that be did before he left that arent too good.
Iverson attitude has not changed and he's still the immature guy. Not trying to sound personal, but from the news and people who have seen him recently, he would not fit this team at all.  

I think if any team could help his attitude problems- it would be us. If we got him on the cheap, and bought into the scheme with all the other old guys, we could make it work.
His ego is quite a big problem but I think that's been an issue because he felt he was legitimately a starter over some of the younger guys he was playing with.

If he came to us he would be Rondos back up- and he couldn't argue that he's better than Rondo.

He also has financial issues so keeping his job would be important.
My biggest concern would be the minutes he'd take from Bradley and if he'd delay Bradley from reaching his potential even further.
But, we wouldn't need many minutes from him and he would probably come on the ULTRA cheap side.
I just think for a team that's looking for scoring off the bench on the cheap (whilst also at times desperate for a solid back up PG for Rondo), he could be a very good gamble.

[PosImpos]

AI is done, let him be.

[Bahku]

He'll always be "The Answer". (Couldn't resist the pun).

Seriously, I doubt we ever see a return to the NBA for AI.

[PaulPierce34G]

N-O, No.

If the guy could accept a far less role than that to which he is accustomed to, and make some personal changes, I might warm up to the idea.  However, factor in his age, his past, how he might actually take away from other guys contributing by being a ball-hog as he has always been, his attitude, etc, I just don't think it is a good idea.  Iverson just seems to lack that "I need to sacrifice my own personal stuff in order to gain as a whole, get to that next level."  

When Shaq came to Boston last summer, I liked the move.  He has always been a fan favorite in regards to his personality, the way he entertains; however, I was a bit weary about his attitude.  All the way back to his LA Laker days, his time in MIA, PHX, complaining about lack of touches, wanting to be "the man" and this and that.  I wasn't sure if he was able to make that sacrifice, or that he would create some sort of hindrance behind the scenes. In the press conferences after his signing, he talked the talk and eventually walked the walk.  Anything is possible, but I think with Iverson, it would be much more unlikely to see him do what Shaq did in terms of personal sacrifice.  He's always had this me against the world mentality, rather than me and my team against everyone else.  I just think it would be a bad idea.  I don't crucify you for making the topic or think you are retarded or whatever.  With the off-season just about in full effect, things can sometimes get dead around here.  

Lastly, Iverson is a player full of pride and that is something you can't knock.  He loves the game of basketball, and was one of the greatest scorers of this generation, but sometimes having too much pride can get in the way of reality, having trouble realizing that you aren't 25 anymore and you can't do it all anymore.  Until he comes to terms with that, I think teams will be hesitant with him.

[greenhead85]

I thought of this idea too after we got eliminated by Miami. As the OP felt there is indeed a need for a PG who can create his own shot, AI could fit that role but my main concerns are (1) matching up against bigger and younger players (there were times Lebron played the PG spot and he might totally get dwarfed making him a liability too), (2) speed (can he still step on the pedal to run as quick as most other PGs?) and (3) stamina (can he play as quick as he used to even for 15 - 20 mins per game on a regular basis?).

[chambers]

I thought of this idea too after we got eliminated by Miami. As the OP felt there is indeed a need for a PG who can create his own shot, AI could fit that role but my main concerns are (1) matching up against bigger and younger players (there were times Lebron played the PG spot and he might totally get dwarfed making him a liability too), (2) speed (can he still step on the pedal to run as quick as most other PGs?) and (3) stamina (can he play as quick as he used to even for 15 - 20 mins per game on a regular basis?).

He'd have to be at least on Mike Bibby's level, stick him in there to guard a weaker PG (or even someone fast/good if he proves himself). Though he wouldn't be in there for his defense- he'd be in there as the scoring option with a bench mob or another guy that forces the D to spread the floor.

I don't think AI is 'done'. He's had a bit of time off to repair and he would be worth a gamble for a contender like us.
Given our limited money and the window we've got with our core, I would rather spend a million on him and hope that he brings a good attitude rather than put the ball in Bradley's hands when Rondo is off.
Give him 6-7 months to prove himself for the playoffs, and if he screws up- let him run off into the wilderness.
Speaking of spending a million, what's the minimum we could get him for? ANyone know his guaranteed payroll?