Source: http://tinyurl.com/mrkq28 Few Teams Interested In What Iverson Offers By JONATHAN ABRAMS Published: July 17, 2009 LAS VEGAS — It is uncomfortably deep into the N.B.A.’s free agency period and Allen Iverson, the player who for more than a decade depicted heart, heartache and cornrows, is a man without a destination The summer’s top crop of free agents found new teams quickly, while a couple of notable exceptions — Lamar Odom and David Lee — are still sifting through possible changes of address. As has been the case throughout his N.B.A. tenure, Iverson is in another category. For more than a decade, Iverson reinvented the crossover dribble. Now, at 34, his career is at a crossroads. He has received feelers from several teams, although none are serious title contenders. At this point, the clubs that are intrigued seem to value Iverson more for his ability to lure fans into seats than for his remaining prowess as a player. Along with Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill, Iverson is part of a group of players who defined the N.B.A. in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade. Now those players find themselves at the twilight of their careers. The Cleveland Cavaliers dealt for O’Neal to serve as LeBron James’s bodyguard and help deliver them a title. Hill received interest from the Boston Celtics and the Knicks before deciding to remain in Phoenix. Although they are now both elder statesman, O’Neal and Hill are still regarded as players who can make a difference for an already talented team. Iverson, who is 16th on the N.B.A.’s career scoring list with 23,983 points, does not seem to be in that category. Several general managers on hand to watch the summer league, for instance, expressed doubts that Iverson would be willing to accept a secondary role on a new team, citing his need to dominate the ball. All of them, it was clear, were mindful of the opposite directions the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets went after swapping Iverson and Chauncey Billups in November. Still, amid those comments was also the recognition that Iverson was not washed up. “He’s still a good player,” Nets General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. Nevertheless, the fall for Iverson — whose scoring, speed and toughness made him a marquee attraction — is fairly drastic. So are the events that led to it. After last season’s trade, the reinvigorated Nuggets, who had been all flash and tattoos before Billups’s arrival, reached the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1985. Meanwhile, the Pistons, who had been to the conference finals for six consecutive seasons before Iverson’s arrival, finished under .500 but managed to qualify for the postseason before being swept in the first round by the Cavaliers. Soon after his arrival in Detroit, he missed a practice on Thanksgiving, rekindling concerns about his commitment. As the season wore on, Iverson bristled at the possibility of coming off the bench, saying in early April that he would rather retire. Soon after that comment, Joe Dumars, the Pistons’ president of basketball operations, announced that Iverson would miss the remainder of the season with a bad back that had already caused him to miss 16 games. The sequence of events raised more questions about Iverson, but in his first public comments since then, in an interview this month with The Detroit Free Press, Iverson disputed any notion that he had quit on the Pistons by claiming to be hurt. “I played all those years and became known for toughness, and suddenly I’m faking?” Iverson said. Last month, the Pistons fired their coach, Michael Curry. But they never discussed the possibility of retaining Iverson. Instead, they used the salary-cap space gained from his expiring contract to sign the free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Wherever Iverson winds up, it will be for far less than the $20.8 million he made last season. The Miami Heat has debated pairing Iverson with Dwyane Wade, but is unwilling to offer Iverson more than $2 million for next season. Other interest has come from the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Clippers, each looking to rebound from sour seasons and to spur ticket sales. The Grizzlies offered Iverson $5 million for one year. The Clippers can use their full midlevel exception and offer Iverson $5.85 million. The Clippers’ owner, Donald Sterling, is enamored at the prospect of using Iverson to draw fans to the Staples Center. According to Yahoo! Sports, the Clippers’ ticket sales are lagging compared with a year ago and an N.B.A. analysis predicted a 29.3 percent decline in ticket revenue next season for the team. But Mike Dunleavy, the Clippers’ coach and general manager, is more interested in point guard Ramon Sessions. In the end, Iverson may have some choices, if not an ideal destination. If he can resuscitate his career under a one-year deal, he may be able to parlay that into a more favorable landing spot next summer. But for now, he is viewed as prime-time player removed from his prime. --

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