Sixers Enjoying Last Laugh of Iverson Trade

More than 16 months have passed since the Philadelphia 76ers granted Allen Iverson his wish and dealt him to a perceived winner. Iverson had poured his heart and soul out for the fans of Philadelphia for a decade, but wanted to have a chance to win an elusive championship. With the 76ers losing ground in the standings with each passing year, it became evident that AI needed a change in scenery if he was gonna get that title. The 2001 MVP publicly demanded to be unloaded, and the organization granted him his wish by pairing him with Carmelo Anthony, instantly making the Denver Nuggets a team that many thought could be a real player in the West. After Sunday night, it appears that Philadelphia is actually better equipped to make a playoff run, even though they don’t have two of the league’s most transcendent superstars.

Iverson’s Denver Nuggets were blown over the Lakers in Game 1 of their series, making it seem inevitable that they are headed for their fifth straight first round exit. Denver made no effort to stop the ruthless domination by Pau Gasol in the paint, and a key third quarter run put Los Angeles on cruise control to take an early 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, those 76ers, who many thought wouldn’t have any chance of competing for years without Iverson, even in the anemic Eastern Conference, pulled off the biggest surprise of the first two nights of the 2008 Playoffs, battling back from a 15-poiint deficit to stun the Pistons and grab home court advantage from the get go.

Philadelphia has undergone a resounding and brief rebuilding period, and have turned into one the NBA’s most pleasant surprises this season. The 76ers were 18-30 a week before the All Star Break, and believed to be headed for nothing but the lottery. However, Maurice Cheeks’ team quietly put together a 22-8 stretch where they actually managed to get over .500 at 40-38, before losing their last four in a row. During their resurrection from the bottom of the standings, Philadelphia took out Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, and the Pistons twice. Clearly, this team was picking up confidence, and hasn't had much of a hangover from unloading Iverson.

Acquired for Iverson was Andre Miller, who’s turned out to be the pass-first guy that Philly has really needed at the point guard position. With Iverson in the mix, players were content to let him jack up 30+ shots a game because he’s that good. No other players on the team were making an effort to make their games better. Now that he’s gone, Andre Iguodala, the new AI, has become the team’s leading scorer, but hardly without any help. Miller has had his share of big-scoring games, averaging a career-high in points, Samuel Dalembert has become a steady presence inside, and a group of youngsters (Louis Williams, William Green, and Thaddeus Young) have lived up to their draft day hype playing big minutes as a trio in Cheeks’ rotation.

Denver may have won 50 games this season, but it’s misleading. They played in the worst division in the Western Conference, the only division in the entire league that had two 60-loss teams. At no point did the Nuggets ever actively address their shortcomings on the defensive side. Iverson and Anthony did a great job as scorers, finishing third and fourth respectively, in the scoring race, but it seems the same old problems are bugging George Karl’s team. With Iverson and Anthony’s huge contracts on the books, Denver doesn’t have any leg room in free agency either. They are stuck with the team the way it’s built, which doesn’t bode well for a team that will have trouble winning its own division in the coming years, with Utah looking like it has the brighter future.

As debilitating as the loss of Iverson was, the 76ers have done a commendable job of making their team rebound quickly, and now suddenly are in better shape, both presently and in the future than AI’s new team is. After receiving such praise for acquiring the superstar 6-0 guard, the only thing Denver should be congratulated for is making their trade partner a more organized franchise and a better team. Meanwhile, the Nuggets continue to look like they will implode at any moment, probably once the Lakers roll right by them in the first round of the playoffs.