Denver Serious About A.I.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Nuggets, convinced Allen Iverson could be the final answer to winning the franchise's first NBA championship, are doggedly pursuing a trade for the often-brilliant and sometimes-troublesome Philadelphia guard.

According to league sources, the Nuggets have quietly but steadfastly worked to close a deal for the 31-year-old star, who was put on the block last week after he demanded a trade.

With a marketable big man in Nene, a hefty expiring contract from Joe Smith that Philadelphia likes for salary-cap flexibility and the two picks Denver owns in the first round of the 2007 draft, the Nuggets have the resources to compete with Indiana, Minnesota or any other league rival to land Iverson.

"We're trying to make our roster better every day. That's our job, to find ways to make the Nuggets better," Denver vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said Wednesday. "We're sitting here today with a winning record, and I'm here to say we like our team. But here's the simple deal. You look for ways to try to get better, if you can."

Denver has expressed keen interest throughout 2006 in acquiring the guard with seven appearances in the NBA All-Star Game on his r?sum?, only to be disappointed at the trade deadline in February and again during the summer.

The Nuggets need to get Iverson. Now. The clock is ticking.

With Iverson on paid leave from the 76ers, his locker cleaned out and his nameplate removed from the Philadelphia dressing room, the Nuggets are operating under the assumption the Sixers want to end their relationship with A.I. quickly.

Consider it a high-stakes game of poker and consider Denver ready to go all in, hoping to land the prize, according to an NBA source familiar with Sixers owner Ed Snider's desire to deal Iverson.

The price might never be lower to acquire Iverson, who has averaged 28 points per game in 11 NBA seasons. The Nuggets have no intention of including either forward Carmelo Anthony or center Marcus Camby in any trade with Philadelphia. While the names J.R. Smith and Eduardo Najera have been floated, so has a deal that would include no current member of Denver's starting five.

Why could pleasing the Sixers be so difficult? Complicating matters is the number of folks the Nuggets must deal with in Philadelphia, where Snider, franchise president Billy King and former Sixers coach Larry Brown are all involved in the decision to trade Iverson, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

The Nuggets, directed by a management team of Warkentien, player personnel executive Rex Chapman and adviser Bret Bearup, have worked nearly nonstop to determine if a trade for Iverson would make sense, even before Philadelphia sent shockwaves through the league by announcing it would part ways with the mercurial star last week, when King was publicly given orders to do a trade ASAP. </div>

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