We’ve been writing about it since early April. Fans have been debating the move all summer. And now Dime Magazine is reporting that the Allen Iverson Era is almost upon us.
The move is aggressive and smart. Iverson will provide a much needed scoring presence on the court and a huge marketing boost for a team with little brand recognition.
As the Bobcats current salary glut illustrates, the team will need to make another move if they want to add quality frontcourt depth while staying under the luxury tax threshold.
Several prominent voices in the Bobcats online community (including the team’s beat writer) have speculated that the Iverson signing would signal a trade of Raja Bell and his expiring contract.
Not so fast.
For one, trading Raja would shackle the team with an impossible Raymond Felton/D.J. Augustin/Iverson backcourt rotation. As none of these players measure greater than 6’0″, Larry Brown would have to depend on unproven rookie SG Gerald Henderson to check taller SGs and PGs.
Also, if Iverson’s contract runs for either one or two seasons, the Bobcats would be in perfect position to start two young players on rookie scale contracts (Henderson & Augustin) if Bell and/or Iverson decide not to re-sign.
This all points to the seemingly inevitable Raymond Felton trade. He would have to approve any deal after the Bobcats extended a qualifying offer earlier this summer but there are still quite a few teams in need of a starting caliber PG and Raymond could potentially squeeze a nice multi-year offer from them in a sign and trade. The Bobcats could then bring back some insurance at the PF position and be primed for a Playoff run in the coming season.
Though the ink hasn’t formally wet the paper, the Baseline applauds the Bobcats organization for their aggressive overtures in recruiting one of the NBA’s all-time greats.
If they sign AI and then trade Felton for a backup PF type, this would be an ideal outcome to a crazy series of moves they've been making.
Absolutely.
Dropping Ray and picking up AI is obviously the cleanest…but I think it's going to be more complicated.
Sign Allen Iverson and try this trade !!
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId…
It's perfect we get a good power forward and a great Allen Iverson.
I'm afraid we might deal Raja. There's going to be a market for him not only for his expiring but also that he can help a playoff team.
I'd much rather stand pat than do that.
No chance. I take Raja's defense and 3point shooting over AIs ineffective ballhogging, any day of the week.
i am willing to sacrifice my raymond felton jersey in order to see him go and iverson come. if this pulls through ill get season tix this year. ppl can hate on AI all they want and maybe hes not the best fit, but ill tell u this. the dudes a big time scorer (Which we need) and more importantly hes got incredible heart on the court and always gives it his all regardless of what he thinks about practice.
mrherb
i agree with what you saying
but
can raja take us to playoff? doubtfully
can AI take us to playoff? possibly
as people mentioned in the past blogging posts, AI true shooting percentage is really effective and be will bring us that clutch time finisher role that we had been longing for.
i would say best scenario is raja and iverson play on the court at the same time
sign and trade
felton+pick jeff foster+rush
anyone?
Br2850, no way NY would trade Harrington’s expiring deal for 3 years of Diop’s bloated contract. Plus, if they finally free Darko he’s gonna lock up 48 minutes a game at center, haha.
The best case scenario would be to Sign&Trade Felton for a PF. There are several teams out there that would like to get a guy like Felton. Perhaps NY, Philly, Golden State or Memphis can be some good options. We might be able to get: Al Harrington, Mareese Speighs, Braden Wright or Darrell Arthur in return. We might even get a 2nd Round pick in return from some of those teams and any of those guys will help coming of the bench. (Note: I'm not sure if the Al Harrington deal works, due to the S&T rules.)
If we add our first round for 2010 Mike Turner they'll definitely take the deal. They can't even wrap up NATE so they are going to want RAJA and DIOP to help DAVID LEE on the block. YEAH this would work!!!
The Bobcats wouldn't trade a starting PG, Felton, for a back-up PF. This isn't a fire sale. We also wouldn't trade Raja Bell. We need his size and defense. Iverson is also injury prone. Hate to say it, but it is more likely DJ would be traded than Felton & Bell. We need Felton and Bell for the playoff run. Iverson isn't a PG, but could possibly be a fill-in PG to Felton. This wouldn't work if DJ was suddenly the new starting PG. DJ had injuries last year. Felton has proved to be durable. If we move DJ, we may move one of the big contracts with him and then settle for less value.
Reality is we need all four for a good playoff run. Iverson, Felton, DJ, & Raja. Henderson may have to find some minutes at the small forward position until the inevitable injuries occur (AI, DJ, Raja).
^Blasphemy!
I agree with the last paragraph. I'd much rather keep what we have (+ AI) then deal any of them for a backup PF.
AI just "tweeted" that he got an offer from Memphis. Hard for me to believe AI would consent to backing up Mayo…so this could just be a play by him to get our offer up.
AI + Larry Brown + Raja Bell = Philadelphia 76ers. hehe