Blockbuster 2.0 in the making

Yahoo! Sports has this going down within the hour, about an hour ago, so supposedly it happened.

Not really sure what to write about it, but in order for me to be on top of things and this to breaking to the people that only folly Poor Man's GM (which is nobody), here's a tidbit.

The trade is essentially Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess.  Rumors also have Cheick Samb floating around here and there but he's kind of a non-factor that just makes the money work.  

The initial reaction is that neither team really gets significantly younger, but it does shake things up.  Let's look at it from team to team:

Denver Nuggets:

Well, if this falls through the projected lineup would probably look something like this:

Starting 5:

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- JR Smith

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Nene Hilario

Off the bench:

Guards: Anthony Carter, Chucky Atkins, Sonny Weems

Forwards: Linas Kleiza, Renaldo Balkman, Antonio McDyess, Juwan Howard

Centers: Chris Anderson, Steven Hunter

I'm with the party that believes that Chauncey Billups is a bigger upgrade over Anthony Carter than JR Smith is a downgrade from Allen Iverson.  If JR Smith has shown us anything, it's that he can score, and Allen Iverson was a scorer.  While Iverson may be more proven, I'm willing to take my chances with the younger scoring shooting guard.  Billups adds size and veterancy to the backcourt and someone who can both shoot the ball, adding a greater perimeter threat in addtion to the moving of JR Smith to the starting lineup, and someone who is unselfish and is effective at running the offense.  It'll be interesting to see how things work out, as the Nuggets will likely slow their pace down a bit.  However, the roster looks to be a bit more solid and you don't run into the problem of Melo and Iverson each doing their own thing, should the chemistry work Billups brings more to a team than just his numbers, he makes the team more of a team.  At least that's what he did in Detroit, we'll see if that carries over.  McDyess shores up a think frontcourt and is a solid hustler and will likely platoon time with Kenyon Martin keeping them both fresher.  The biggest concern is who backs up JR Smith, I can see points in time where Billups maybe plays 2 with Anthony Carter sliding into the lineup, otherwise, I expect Kleiza to be the main backup 2 guard.  Can't say I've seen enough of Kleiza to say whether or not that's good or bad.

Detroit:

This is where the trade raises a couple of question marks, the starting lineup projected would probably be something like this:

Starting 5:

PG- Allen Iverson

SG- Richard Hamilton

SF- Tayshaun Prince

PF- Amir Johnson

C- Rasheed Wallace

Off the bench

Guards: Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Will Bynum

Forwards: Walter Hermann, Jason Maxiell, Walter Sharp

Centers: Kwame Brown

It'll be interesting to see how Iverson fits into the system, though the Pistons do need a player who can just simply take over games.  Handing the reigns over to his hands however, might not be the greatest idea, unless Michael Curry decides to start Stuckey and slide everyone over a slot, benching Amir Johnson and playing small.  Either way, it's not idea, but I can see it working.  Iverson is a proficient passer when has a mind to, though his option is to always score first.  I think he'll draw enough attention that Hamilton, Prince, Johnson, and Wallace will all be able to do well, but then it's a matter of getting them the ball.  We'll see how this pans out, it's another one of those big risk, big reward moves.

If we're to look at the Iverson trade from a financial standpoint it's actually quite ingenious.  If Iverson doesn't win the ring then oh well, it was a good run, and good bye.  Extra $20 mil on the books, Sheed wants to retire, there goes another $13 mil.  They extended Rip, but they have around $30 mil to play around with in free agency, enabling them to probably land someone like Lamar Odom or Hedo Turkoglu end of this year and make a serious run for LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, or Amare Stoudemire while still resigning Tayshaun Prince in 2010.  Joe Dumars is a genius to say the least, and this is one of the smoothest transitions I've seen yet.

UPDATE: Samb is indeed included in the package, a lot of people believe that this would likely lead to a buyout of McDyess who would probably return to Detroit in 30 days.