Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has acquired guard Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for guard Chauncey Billups, forward Antonio McDyess and center Cheikh Samb.
“We are pleased to welcome Allen Iverson to the Pistons organization,” said Dumars. “Allen has proven he is one of the elite players in the league and we like what he adds to our roster at the guard position. We appreciate everything that Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb brought to the organization during their time here in Detroit and we certainly wish them all the best.”
Iverson, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2001, ranks 20th among NBA all-time scoring leaders with 23,031 points. His long list of NBA achievements include NBA Rookie of the Year (1997), All-NBA First Team (1999, 2001, 2005), All-NBA Second Team (2000, 2002, 2003), All-NBA Third Team (2006), NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (2001, 2005) and NBA Rookie Game Most Valuable Player (1997). Iverson has been named an NBA All-Star nine times (2000-08), Player of the Week 23 times during his career and Player of the Month three times. He shares the NBA record for most seasons leading the league in steals per game (2000-03) and ranks 13th among all-time NBA leaders in steals (1,902).
Iverson spent his first 11 ½ seasons in Philadelphia where he helped the 76ers to the Eastern Conference Championship and an NBA Finals berth in 2001. He spent the last one-and-a-half seasons in Denver where he averaged 25.8 points, 7.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game and helped the Nuggets reach the playoffs each season. The 6-0, 165-pound guard holds the second-highest career playoff-scoring average in history (29.7 ppg), trailing only Michael Jordan (33.4 ppg). In 831 career NBA games, the former Georgetown product has compiled averages of 22.7 points, 6.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. Iverson has posted 132 career double-doubles, 12 games scoring 40-plus points and dishing 10-plus assists, 79 career 40-plus scoring efforts (fourth most in NBA history) and 11 career 50-plus scoring efforts. He has led the NBA in scoring four times (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2004-05).
Billups six-year career in Detroit is highlighted by back-to-back Eastern Conference Championships and two NBA Finals appearances in 2004 and 2005. He was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player during the Pistons NBA Championship season in 2003-04 when he averaged 21.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in five games vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. The Denver, CO native was named an NBA All-Star three times with Detroit, All-NBA Second Team (2006), All-NBA Third Team (2007) and All-NBA Defensive Second Team (2005, 2006). In 760 career NBA games, Billups has averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game. He ranks 18th among NBA all-time leaders in three-point field goals made (1,272 - 10th among active players).
McDyess helped lead the Pistons to the Eastern Conference Championship and an NBA Finals appearance in 2005. In four seasons with Detroit, he averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 321 games. McDyess has career averages of 13.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 805 NBA games, compiling three 40-plus scoring efforts, seven 20-plus rebound games and four 20-point/20-rebound efforts. He has scored in double figures in 526 of his 805 career games. McDyess was named an NBA All-Star in 2001, All-NBA Third Team (1999), NBA All-Rookie First Team (1996) and was a member of the gold medal winning Team USA squad at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Samb was acquired by Detroit during a draft night trade on June 28, 2006 from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Maurice Evans. Drafted 51st overall by the Lakers, Samb played in four games last season for the Pistons, averaging 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game. The 7-foot-1 center made two assignments to the NBA Development League last season and averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and a league-leading 4.0 blocks in 19 games for the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants.
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