Matt Moore Posts

Allen Iverson needs to lay low for a while.

After establishing himself as a potential Hall of Fame guard, with offensive skills never before seen in the league and establishing himself as a perennial winner who's only flaw was that he was surrounded by insufficient backup, the last year has done a lot to tarnish that reputation. After being traded to Detroit he was an outright disaster, unable to find his place in the offense or in the locker room. Meanwhile the guard he was traded for, Chauncey Billups, lead his team to the Conference Finals.

As a free agent this summer, Iverson needs to go somewhere quietly and rebuild his image, much the same way that his old coach Larry Brown has in Charlotte. But it might be another small market team Iverson ends up with. One that now features an... eclectic makeup of personalities.

Iverson might be headed South for the Winter.

OK, sure. They traded their franchise player a year and a half ago for Kwame Brown and some Skittles. And yes, with the No. 2 pick they managed to select the only basketball player available who's biggest weakness is his ability to put the little ball in the big circle with the net attached (which I hear is kind of important). But hey, they needed to rebuild, and they rebuilt. But they have tons of cap space now, so much in fact, that they're actually under the CBA limit and have to spend some.

So they've stopped torturing their fans with one terrible decision after another right? Right? Guys? Anybody?

Oh, hi Zach Randolph. What are you ... doing ... here ...?

Oh, no.

OK, sure, stacking Josh Howard, Jason Terry and former MVP Dirk Nowitzki around him was no more successful than surrounding him with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, but you know what they say: 18th time's the charm.

And it's in that spirit that Jason Kidd re-enters the NBA free agency market.

For those of us hoping that the draft would bring some exciting developments, it has at least started with a relative bang. And for Minnesota fans, it has brought with it the "good" exciting, rather than the "oh, what's that funny feeling in my stomach, oh, it's vomit" exciting. You know, their usual kind.

A deal is close to closing that has the Timberwolves sending Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Washington Wizards for the No. 5 selection in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, and Etan Thomas.

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As we roll on toward the 2009 NBA Draft, FanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller turn their attention toward the players who deserve the hype. Previous draft debates focused on Ricky Rubio and Hasheem Thabeet.

Ziller: At the end of our last debate, you asked who I thought deserved more hype. That is, of course, a tricky question, considering the entire draft is built on hype. In fact, the role of the media (professional, semi-pro and amateur) is often to debunk hype. As many have ruminated, it's highly unlikely the next Amar'e, Maravich, Wade and Dikembe are really in this draft.

Well, you put together your best team in franchise history, led by the best player in the game. You won more games than any other team in the regular season. You crushed your first two playoff opponents by double digits in every game.

And you were sent fishing. Again.

So what strategy can the Cavaliers turn to in order to get them over that final hump that continues to evade them? Go after a 37-year-old center with conditioning issues. Again.

The Cavs are in pursuit of Shaquille O'Neal. Yes, again. Well, maybe.

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They have to win four.

I mean, we all know they will. You could point to several moments when this NBA season ended, but Derek Fisher draining a pull-up-jumper-in-transition three was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. You can't blow leads like the Magic did. But they did. But if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant want to cement themselves as everything we've already anointed them as, they have to win four games.

So here we are, and tonight will either be a mercy-killing as the Lakers end it and begin celebrating yet another in a long line of championships, or Orlando will kickstart the ticker and pray for a miracle. Join us for the celebration/funeral, at 8PM EST.

Allen Iverson is arguably the top name on the albeit limited 2009 free agency list. And though his stint in Detroit could accurately be described as disastrous, and his skills are diminished with age, he's still The Answer, and scorers of his mold will always be sought after.

Except by his former coach from Philadelphia. Kind of.

Larry Brown said this week that while he 'loves' Allen, he doesn't see a reunion between the hard-line coach and the temperamental superstar next season with the Charlotte Bobcats. What's surprising is in saying that, he's looking out not for his own squad, but for Iverson.

One of the things that's been said about this Magic team, one of the few positive things, is that they've managed to get this far without their starting All-Star point guard, Jameer Nelson. Many have even said while doubting the Magic in the Conference semifinals, Conference finals, and now NBA Finals that if the Magic had Nelson, they might look upon them as more legit contenders.

Since Nelson was injured against the Mavericks on February 3rd, there's been an obvious hole in the offensive punch of the Magic's backcourt. And while Rafer Alston has certainly filled in admirably, and Courtney Lee has blossomed with more minutes showing poise and explosiveness, the question has still been asked, "How good would this team be with Jameer Nelson back?"

Turns out there's a slight possibility we may get the answer to that question.