December 20, 2006

SIXERS COULDN’T WORK IVERSON ANY BETTER THAN RAPTORS WORKED CARTER

      It was a little more than two years ago (Dec. 17, 2004) when the Toronto Raptors finally traded their unhappy superstar, Vince Carter, to New Jersey for three players and two draft picks.  Carter had requested to be moved in the off-season--suffering from a bruised ego when his opinion was not sought by the organization during their hunt for a new general manager.  The Raptors, for the wrong reason (ceding to pressure from their consultant Jack McCloskey) hired Rob Babcock to head their basketball team and thus alienated their best player.  Carter had pushed for Julius Erving to be hired instead and when his notions were rebuffed decided that it was time to move.  The Raptors then began the long and fruitless search for equal value.

       The similarities between the Carter fiasco then and the Alan Iverson/Philadelphia 76er dissolution now are eerie.  Both organizations were loathe to trade away their franchise player and did so only when forced into a corner by irreconcilable issues.  The Raptors were witness to an obviously disenchanted superstar who became more of paycheck collector and uniform filler than a catalyst for them.  When word leaked out that during an early season west coast trip Carter had actually given a play away to the opposition Raptor management decided they needed to move him out immediately.  The best offer on the table (the club wanted experienced players to fill gaps for the present and desired draft choices to build the team up for the future) was from New Jersey.  The Raptors received three experienced players and two first round choices.

       The Sixers found themselves in a similar circumstance—having capitulated as much as possible to satisfy their enigmatic star—and were forced to draw a line in the sand when the club’s constant losing affected Iverson.  At the best of times the former Georgetown star was difficult, but winning basketball games always kept the problems to a minimum.  The Sixers have become a horrible basketball team and not even Iverson’s brilliance could save them.  His pettiness and his petulance wore at the patience of the organization until they finally realized that the end had arrived.  By sending their star player home to wait for a trade the club put themselves in the awkward position of having to make a trade, rather than being able to take their time and seek out the best option.

       The search for equal value was arduous.  The Sixers need to rebuild, and in return for their very expensive all-star they wanted expiring contracts, young players and draft choices.  The marketplace for a player whose contract called for $17 million this year and $40 million for the next two years was limited—there were very few teams willing or able to absorb that much of a salary cap hit.  The Sixers soon found out that if they were going to obtain each and every piece they desired they would have to look at multi-team trades—no one team possessed all of their needs.

       The marketplace, though, proved to be treacherous terrain for the Sixers.  The longer they waited and the more they searched the more it became apparent that they would have to lessen their demands.  Denver was always the primary target—they were the one team that had the greatest percentage of pieces desired by Philadelphia—but the Sixers continued to try to find a third team capable of satisfying the rest.  They could not.  And then the Madison Square Garden brawl took place and it shook this trade right down to its foundation.   

       When the league suspended Nugget star Carmelo Anthony for 15 games Denver became acutely aware that they would need to fill his spot during that time or they could fall right out of the playoff hunt before he returned.  Denver called Philadelphia and informed them that they needed to know if the trade they proposed for Iverson was satisfactory.  They needed to know right away or else they would have to investigate other options.  They couldn’t wait any more. 

      For their part the Sixers quickly scoured the league one final time for a better offer, but there wasn’t one out there.  They couldn’t let Denver get away or it might have been months before they could send Iverson away, and that was something they could not let happen.  They didn’t want to go through what Indiana went though last season in their attempt to deal Ron Artest.  Philadelphia called Denver and accepted their offer. 

      The Sixers can still walk away with a good deal, providing they can make a quality trade for Andre Miller (the veteran point guard’s acquisition is only temporary as he will likely be moved before the trade deadline, hopefully, for Philly’s sake, for a young player and/or an expiring contract).  The draft choices will come late in the first round—the Sixers now own both Denver’s first pick and Dallas’ first selection and are not likely to turn into a franchise player. 

       If the Sixers are able to turn Miller into something positive, and they get lucky and possibly one of those picks turns into a quality rotation player then the Sixers will be able to call this trade a success.  But remember the Raptors ended up losing all three experienced players for very little (Eric Williams did accompany Matt Bonner in a trade for useful veteran center Rasho Nesterovic) and the two draft choices produced only Joey Graham (a decent yet still developing forward).  The end result was that the Raptors received far less than market value for Carter.

       During the process the Sixers soon realized that trying to move Iverson was like walking into a pawnshop with a $10,000 diamond ring and expecting fair value.  Maybe in the long run the Sixers can look back and think that they did well, but chances are, like the Raptors, they will likely simply appreciate the time Iverson spent in the city—and then forget about the rest.

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