HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Marc Narducci

Allen Iverson’s season is over, according to the Detroit Pistons.

What about his career?

Iverson, who will be 34 next season, has an achy back and a psyche that is just as sore, but it would be unwise and premature to label him finished. Still, this season his game declined and that was even before his back began giving out.

Iverson should be in the NBA next season, but he has accumulated plenty of mileage during 13 NBA seasons.

Many felt that with the hell-bent fury that Iverson displayed on the court, that once he began to slow down ever so slightly, it would be the signal of a steep decline.

He can still beat players off the dribble, but not as frequently as earlier in his career. Even at his best he was never a great outside shooter. And his critics have long suggested that he doesn’t make his teammates better.

Iverson’s supporters will point out to his MVP season in 2000-2001 when he was named the league MVP and led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA final. That was an overachieving defensive-minded 76ers team that lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. That season Iverson was at his best, but it was also eight years ago. Since then, Iverson has been part of just one winning playoff series, and that came in the first round in the 2002-2003 season.

Pistons president Joe Dumars has long earned the reputation as one of the top executives in the NBA, but brining Iverson on board and unloading Chauncey Billups won’t rank much higher than the decision to select Darko Milicic with the second overall selection in the 2003 NBA draft.

One wonders what shape the Pistons would be in today had they selected one of the three players taken immediately after Milicic – Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. And one can also wonder where Detroit would be had Billups stayed.

Dumars can still make good on the Iverson deal by using the cap room that the Pistons will receive when his salary of nearly $22 million comes off the books after this season.

Yet the trade certainly didn’t work this season and there is no guarantee that the added dollars can once again buy an Eastern Conference contender.

A Pistons team that has been to the Eastern Conference finals six consecutive years is still struggling to be a playoff participant. And while it’s too simplistic to put all the blame on Iverson, he certainly hasn’t done his part to make the Pistons a better team.

Iverson has always been lauded for playing as hard as any player in the league. There is a distinction however between playing hard and playing well. At this point of his career, he is a liability on defense. Iverson continues to need to dominate the ball and thus his teammates, especially in Detroit, were often left standing around. He also didn’t make a favorable impression after complaining about coming off the bench

If Iverson couldn’t fall into line in a team-first unit like the Pistons, could he do it for another NBA team?

He still has enough skill to be able to give a team an offensive lift, but the days of being a 40-minute-a-night player for a serious playoff contender appear to be over. That said, he should still have job options.

First and foremost, Iverson is still a drawing card and one of the NBA’s true fan favorites. His popularity was demonstrated when the fans voted him to the NBA All-Star team against this season.

So a team looking for a gate attraction, especially next season when the NBA is expected to be hurting for ticket sales due to the sagging economy, could take a flyer on Iverson.

Iverson likely has to accept a lot less money and a lesser role with any team he joins, unless he wants to go to a truly awful franchise and then he will be able to score at will.

It doesn’t seem conceivable that he will return to Detroit and it’s hard at this point to come up with any major contender reaching out to Iverson.

His back will eventually heal, but he has some work to do in convincing others that his game remains healthy. Iverson will have to prove that he is a team-first player who can make any franchise appreciably better.

At this point that looks like a difficult sell.

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There is still plenty of time for players to redeem themselves this season, but either due to injury, poor performance, or a combination of both, there are a number are candidates for the most disappointing player this year in the NBA.

Here is a list of some of the players who haven’t met expectations to this point. Many of these players are having solid statistical seasons, but based on their past, it’s still below their expected level of production.

Check in with us at the end of the season to see if any of these players will be able to lift themselves off this undesired list. Also, we’d love to hear any suggestions of players who aren’t included, but very well could be.

The players are listed in alphabetical order.

Mike Conley, Memphis. He has gone from being the fourth pick in the 2007 draft to somebody on everybody’s all-rumor trade team. Conley is averaging just over 3 assists in 25 minutes per game and has lost his starting job to Kyle Lowry.  Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey, who was selected 15th in the first round of the 2007 draft, has already far exceeded Conley as a point guard.

Samuel Dalembert, 76ers. Dalembert is among the most congenial people in the NBA, but also among the most inconsistent. Last season he made huge strides, but this year the Sixers center has regressed and now he’s playing fewer minutes. He had started every game, but was averaging under six points and more than eight rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots in under 25 minutes per game. Last season he averaged 10.5 points and 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots in more than 33 minutes a game. This season he hasn’t been thrilled about his reduced minutes, but he must give the Sixers a reason to play him more.

Ricky Davis, Los Angeles Clippers. A player who has been known for giving instant offense, Davis has struggled with knee problems and has also received a five-game suspension for violating terms of the NBA’s drug program. He hasn’t played since Nov. 22 due to a left knee injury. Known for his ability to create instant offense, Davis has averaged just 4.3 points in 13 games.

Luol Deng, Chicago. An ankle injury has kept him out of the lineup since late December, but even when playing, Deng seemed to have lost his shooting touch. Before the season he signed a six-year contract for more than $70 million. Deng is averaging 13.3 points, but hasn’t come close to looking like the dangerous player of 2006-2007 when he averaged 18.8 points and shot 51.7 percent from the field.

Allen Iverson, The grading scale is much tougher on this nine-time all-star. Since being dealt earlier in the season from Denver, Iverson has averaged 18 points, which is about nine below his career average. True, with Detroit, he won’t get as many shots because of  the Pistons’ depth and his own reduced minutes. Iverson was averaging about three minutes less per game for Detroit from his career average. To his credit, he has tried to defer to his teammates.  Maybe it seems as if Iverson has been disappointing because the player he was traded for, Chauncey Billups, has made a world of difference in Denver and should be selected to the all-star team. Iverson is still a productive player, but he’s just not performing at an all-star level.

Jason Kidd, Dallas. Kidd has never really been the expected dominant player since being traded at the all-star break last season from New Jersey. The numbers look respectable – more than eight points and eight assists per game. He is averaging more than 35 minutes, which is about two minutes under his career mark. Many point guards would take Kidd’s numbers in a heartbeat, but this is a nine-time all-star, so like Iverson, he is judged on a higher level. Kidd will be 36 on March 23 and while he has some solid basketball left in him, he hasn’t begun to look like the dominant player of the past.

Tracy McGrady, Houston. McGrady has attempted to play despite a painful sore left knee that has kept him in and out of the lineup. To his credit, he has tried to play through the pain, but just hasn’t been the same following surgery in May. A seven-time all-star, McGrady is shooting under 40 percent from the field and isn’t close to the being the player who has averaged 21 or more points per season for eight straight years.

Mike Miller, Minnesota. Somebody with the shooting ability of Miller who is playing more than 31 minutes per game should not be averaging below double figures in scoring. Miller has missed several games this season with an ankle injury, but he also hasn’t been aggressively looking for his shot. In a recent three-game stretch he attempted only 18 shots. Never known as a great defender, Miller has the ability to stretch defenses. He is certainly a candidate to be traded and should be able to help a contender.

Jermaine O’Neal, Toronto. The acquisition of O’Neal in the summer was expected to significantly upgrade Toronto, but the Raptors have been one of the biggest disappointments this season. O’Neal has been listed as day to day, but at this writing, hasn’t played since Dec. 29 due to his troublesome right knee. While in the lineup, he has been solid, but not spectacular (14.0 ppg., 7.3 rpg. ). If totally healthy, and that’s a big if, he is capable of much more. He has not played as many as 70 games since 2003-2004 and one wonders if O’Neal can still make a major impact or just be a solid but unspectacular contributor.

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