<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Mercury News - The 76ers have been spending the better part of the summer trading Allen Iverson, but the former MVP wants to remain in Philadelphia, with a catch. "I want to be a Sixer, I have said that since Day 1," Iverson said at a news conference to promote his annual charity softball event. "But if I am not wanted, then I definitely don't want to be a Sixer and I am willing to start my career all over." "It's a business. I have some value," Iverson said. "We didn't make the playoffs last year, and when something like that happens, you feel like you got to do something. I don't know why it has to be me, but I guess I have that type of value. "It's just tough everywhere you go, no matter where in the world, people ask you that same question. I am used to it, but I am also tired of it. Sometimes I even think leaving might not be such a bad thing because I might not have to deal with this every summer. My kids might not have to deal with this, might wife might not have to deal with this. I honestly want to be a Sixer. "</div> LINK
Like I said before, Billy King has got figure out which direction he wants this team to go. Does he want to rebuild? If so, then he better not waste the rest of AI's career here in Philly. Does he want to win now? If so, then he has got to do a better job of surrounding AI with the necessary pieces in order to win a championship. I seriously don't know which route Billy King is trying to go on. It seems to me that he wants to win now, if so, then why have we been so quite in free agency? Billy has to realize that this team is a mess, and he better do something to fix it up. The thing that pisses me off is that Billy King doesn't seem to be pressured at all. Why? Because Ed freaking Snider doesn't give a crap about the Sixers. No matter what Billy King does, it will be okay. Which leads to the demise of this team. Think about it. If you had a job, and your managers don't give a crap about it, would you be putting forth 110%? That's the same with Billy King and Ed Snider. Ed doesn't give a crap about the Sixers and Billy King knows it. As long as Billy doesn't do something really stupid, like trading AI for Adonal Foyel, he will still have his job.
Let me start off by saying I grew up with Allen Iverson, despite all his faults I just can’t imagine a 76ers team without Allen Iverson. I own four different types of Allen Iverson jerseys I have posters on my walls, and I have always been a fan of his no matter what the situation was. The only reason I can see for us trading AI would be to speed up the rebuilding process by a couple of years and get some promising young players here. Although, I would understand an AI trade happening a big part of me wants nothing more than seeing AI back in a 76ers uniform next season. From the fade to the corn rows no matter what AI looked like, or how he acted you could always count on him to go out of the court, and give his all for you. If we trade him can we say the same about the players we would be getting in return? For Philadelphia AI has been a player that surpasses basketball he has become one of the cities trade marks. Hell I was at the Gallery the other day (a mall in Philly) and they had AI’s jersey framed hanging up in a McDonalds. With all that said I still do not understand why King has spent so much energy shopping AI and has yet to even see if there is a market for Webber. Given no team wants a part of his contract (except the Knicks maybe) I find it hard to believe King took a long look into moving Webber. We had a championship formula in 2001 I do not care if people want to say it was a weak year, etc. we had a defensive player of the year, sixth man of the year, coach of the year, and MVP. Why not try to reconstruct that?
If you saw the interview he did on SportsCenter, you could see he was angry with Billy King... but held the fans and the city in the highest regard. I would feel the same way if I was in Iverson's shoes. As he said, he deserves better, and more importantly the fans deserve better. Unfortunately, Billy King has screwed this franchise up so badly that trading Iverson is the only thing that could even help us begin to fix it all up...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">We had a championship formula in 2001 I do not care if people want to say it was a weak year, etc. we had a defensive player of the year, sixth man of the year, coach of the year, and MVP. Why not try to reconstruct that?</div> It's easier said than done. Billy King has turned a once proud franchise into nothing more than a joke. Saying we should surround AI with more defensive minded players is easy, but how can we do it? Barely anyone on our team even gives a crap on defense, we are in salary cap hell, and will be for the next 2 or 3 years. Plus, besides AI, we don't really have any trad-able assets. Our best bet is to trade away AI and rebuild, because there is no way this team can all of a sudden turn into a contender. Even if Billy King plays all the pieces right, we are still looking at maybe 3 or 4 years, which by then, who knows what type of player AI will be?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post">It's easier said than done. Billy King has turned a once proud franchise into nothing more than a joke. Saying we should surround AI with more defensive minded players is easy, but how can we do it? Barely anyone on our team even gives a crap on defense, we are in salary cap hell, and will be for the next 2 or 3 years. Plus, besides AI, we don't really have any trad-able assets. Our best bet is to trade away AI and rebuild, because there is no way this team can all of a sudden turn into a contender. Even if Billy King plays all the pieces right, we are still looking at maybe 3 or 4 years, which by then, who knows what type of player AI will be?</div> Not at all 3 to 4 years down the line. If we get all the first pieces in now we could easily become instant contenders. When you already have a superstar in place, all you really need to do is get him some help. Every year people with contracts just as bad if not worst than Webber seem to get traded I find it hard to believe that despite averaging 20 and 9 (no matter how bad his contract is) there is not even one team interested in Webber. Even if we trade him just to dumb his contract, it is a good move. Although, at the time I thought-acquiring Webber was a good deal it is obviously a failed experiment and time to pull the plug. Trade Webber for some defensive minded players with small contracts it’s obviously easier said than done, but it’s not any where near impossible.
Right now Billy King is doing the right thing. The players that the team have been rumored to be getting have been nothing close to the talent A.I. brings to the court. Love him or hate him, A.I. will still bring 30 or more to the court every night. Sooner or later there will be a team that feels they are one piece away from the playoffs and they will offer us a all-star type player for Iverson. Many believe it can be the Clippers who will offer Shaun Livingston and Corey Maggette. While Maggette won't give you 30 a game, he still is a nice player that has all-star potential. Getting a guy like that plus a young player that shows promise, like Shaun Livingston, will get the team Iverson. Nobody knows how this team will react if Iverson is in for their first pre-season game. A lot of players feel he was going to be traded and they were already moving in a different direction. I'll tell you what though, if Iverson is gone then I'll put money that C-Webb will opt out of his contract to be with a winning team. Another possibility would be to trade Iverson for cap space and go crazy in free agency next year.
