Allen Iverson Confirms Deal

by djturtleface on Sep 9, 2009 12:19 PM CDT Comment 8 comments

Allen Iverson, ten time NBA All-Star, former image of the post-Jordan NBA, and David Stern's bane, confirmed today that he will accept the Memphis Grizzlies offer.

No word on exact specifics for the contract, but it almost certainly includes a significant amount of provisional agreements, likely in the form of incentives for a mix of production and good behavior.

What is known is that the deal is only for one year, and that Iverson can only earn between $3.5 milion and $4.2 million, depending on said incentives and if the Grizzlies renounce the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro.

'Perhaps my favorite Allen Iverson photo. Ever.'

Followers of the site will recognize that I've flip-flopped on the decision to add Iverson this season. Originally I had roundly denounced the move, but now support the decision to add Iverson. Expect a significant write-up tonight--one similar in style to this--with a post of quantitative, statistical analysis--more like this one--coming later this week.

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Excitement for the Franchise

I still think A.I. has a little left in the tank. I don’t expect him to be anything like he was in 2001, but I think he can be better than he was last season. These Grizzlies are going to be fun to watch with a lot of scoring ability. The key thing for Iverson at his age is not to get injured again.

"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Sep 9, 2009 1:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Glad AI Signed

First post on this blog, but I’m happy to see that Allen Iverson finally found a team. I’ve been an Iverson fan for almost thirteen years now, and I think this move was the best. You guys will be hearing more from me as the season goes on.

"If you hit somebody hard enough, they will give up. You can feel their body go limp and they'll just surrender. So every time I hit somebody, the goal is to knock myself out. I know that if I hit somebody hard enough that I can feel it, it's hurting them 10 times worse." Bob Sanders

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by The Answer 3 on Sep 9, 2009 2:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

just as excited

If anything this going to be fun to watch. Lets get this season started.

Ollerblueboy
The Growl- oller.weebly.com

by thegrowl on Sep 9, 2009 3:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

AI in Memphis

just as the Answer 3 said i have been a huge iverson fan since he came into the league and am extremely excited he finally found a team. this blog should start getting flooded with AI fans within the next few weeks and into next season. good news for the writer! I’m not going to lie, i was hoping for charlotte, but i am ready to embrace the grizzlies now. I think AI and OJ should start in the backcourt, with mayo assuming lots of the PG role. Something he is on the record saying he would like to do. Not to mention mayo’s 6 4 stature would allow him to guard the opposing teams shooting guard. Conley would be a good complement of the bench.

by cmg on Sep 9, 2009 4:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Interesting move by the Grizz here

I was thinking about the last time that Iverson was around a young group of talented players, and the last time was in 2004-05 in Philly. That season was, arguably, his finest as he did more to help the youngins along, and, for whatever reason, also got Jim O’Brien fired.

The most interesting thing is can the Grizz play Mayo with Iverson, and pair Conley with Iverson. The other interesting point is how many less touches does this mean for Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay? Plus, and nobody has mentioned him anywhere I’ve read yet, is how does this impact Marc Gasol given he was a featured point of the offense last season, too?

I think this can work from a financial perspective. Iverson can sell tickets to a fanbase like Memphis that may need a reason to come to the games. Iverson doing something spectacular may lure plenty to go to the games for that reason.

I think the Grizz did it because of the above paragraph, and that it can sell the fans on the other young talent. I’ve been known to call Michael Heisley a scumbag (I resented the way he moved the Grizz—and while I’m not alone I’ll just leave it at that) partly because of the fanbase in Memphis has never really embraced the Grizz much.

If this deal works out, I wonder how Heisley and Chris Wallace will be viewed. We shall see. Look forward to the big elaborate posts Turtle.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....

by pookeyguru on Sep 9, 2009 5:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What a day

Even though I have been talking as though we would get Iverson for days, it didn’t seem real until I saw his latest twitter. I really think that this could be a turning point for the franchise. As I’ve said before, you don’t worry about messing up chemistry when you have none. Haters that claim that he’s going to mess us up have not watched us play. We play nationally on MLK day and that’s it. Now there will be people actually wearing Grizzlies jerseys outside of Memphis besides me, and they won’t be getting laughed at this year. We have a player that came with his OWN fanbase. (I happen to be a lucky member of both fanbases involved.)

I understand he wants to start, but I think that we can play him 32 minutes a game, and when we sub in our mostly defensive 2nd unit players, and he can take 50% of the shots. There are enough shots to get around. If you look at shots to points, Mayo and Gay were some of the least efficient in the league. That’s cause they were forced to take more shots than they could in the flow of the offense. They had no better options, so they had to take all the shots. We didn’t go from having too few weapons on offense to too many with Zach Randolph and AI. Yes, Rudy Gay may not get the All star numbers he wants, but that’s a good thing for the team, not a bad one. Until they are literally punching each other in the locker room (a possibility, I concede), they can’t help but be significantly better than last year.

by hueyproductions on Sep 9, 2009 9:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I won't be surprised if he makes the team better through his talent alone

But how much better? I’ll be shocked if it makes the Grizz a 40 win squad, let alone the playoffs.

What is the point of the move? It won’t help develop Conley and Mayo, will it? AI is a singular talent whose game, with its plusses and negatives, won’t soon be duplicated. He’s a warrior, and I respect AI, but I wouldn’t want my young star guard named Mayo trying to learn AI’s playing style.

I know every team wants to win, but this isn’t a move that REALLY improves you. A few more wins this year doesn’t really mean anything. Development of your prospects (and you have some good ones) and flexibility for the future is what the Grizz still need.

HOWEVER, with Conley/Mayo/AI/Gay/Z-Bo/Gasol/Thabeet, you certainly got an interesting team to watch. I’ll be tuned in via League Pass.

Mortimer

by Mortimer on Sep 9, 2009 9:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs