Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Sources: Two deals on table for A.I.

By Jared Trexler
Reporting by John McMullen

Like the sands through a hourglass, these are the days of A.I.'s life.

With his bags packed but nowhere to call home, the Allen Iverson trade saga has reached a fevered pitch.

The Phanatic -- in the media center at tonight's Sixers game against Boston -- has talked to various NBA sources over the last hour and discovered that the Sixers turned down one deal already, with two other deals at the forefront and another 3-way blockbuster on the back burner.

#1: Golden State and Philadelphia
A national NBA source told The Phanatic that the deal "sitting on GM Billy King's desk" has point guard Baron Davis, center/forward Andris Biedrins and a third unidentified player coming to Philadelphia in exchange for A.I. and forward Steven Hunter.

Davis, the seven-year pro out of UCLA, logs just under 36 minutes a night for the Warriors this season, averaging 19.7 points, 8.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds. The other player the Sixers covet -- NOT Monta Ellis according to our sources -- is Andris Biedrins, a 6'11" native of Lativa, complete with quick feet and solid toughness for an international player. Biedrins is averaging 11.7 points and 9.7 rebounds this season. Golden State was hesitant on including Biedrins in the trade, instead trying to pawn off Notre Dame product Troy Murphy (10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds) or Mickeal Pietrus (13.7 points, 5.2 boards). Either Pietrus or Ellis, who the Sixers are "high on" just not as much as Biedrins, could be the third unidentified player.

#2: Indiana and Philadelphia
This deal is No. 2 on King's desk, right beneath the Warriors trade. The Pacers would send point guard Jamaal Tinsley, forward Marquis Daniels and a third unidentified player to the Sixers for Iverson and either Hunter or an unidentified player.

Tinsley, a five-year veteran out of Iowa State, is a prototypical NBA point guard, dealing out 6.3 assists to 2.8 turnovers (better than 2-to-1) along with 12.4 ppg this season. The trade couldn't go through until Friday because of Daniels, who can't be moved until then because of a concrete rule in the Collective Bargaining Agreement -- 90-day Trade rule -- that prohibits his trading before December 15 (thanks to the comment that pointed out the issue). Daniels has yet to adjust to his new team, averaging only 5.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per contest. That is almost half of the production he put up in Dallas last season, when he totaled 10.2 points and 3.6 boards a game. The Sixers WANT the third unidentified player to be Danny Granger, according to our NBA sources. Granger has the combination of athleticism and strength conducive to a long, successful NBA career. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds during his rookie season out of New Mexico before averaging 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds this season.

Indiana is hesitant to give away the young talent.

According to our NBA sources, those are the two deals ON THE TABLE (King may be reading them as we speak).

A "tentative" 3-way blockbuster between the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Sixers has moved to the back burner. That trade, which according to our sources is smoldering with the possibility of being rekindled, would send Kings point guard Mike Bibby and forward Kenny Thomas to the Clippers, Iverson to the Kings and bring young, promising stars Shaun Livingston and Corey Maggette to the Sixers.

Philadelphia LOVES this trade, but the other two sides wavered in earlier discussions, moving it to the background.

The Sixers have also REJECTED one trade, which would have sent Maggette and guard Cuttino Mobley to the City of Brotherly Love for A.I. The problem? Mobley's $30 million left on the remaining three years of his contract.

Also, a Boston media source told The Phanatic that Celtics GM Danny Ainge "wants" A.I., but franchise player Paul Pierce does not. "It's all lip service," the source said in reference to Pierce's public statement about his willingness to team with Iverson. "Paul wants his shots," stated the source.

Things are gaining steam inside the Wachovia Center. The Phanatic will have up-to-the-second news and updates as we find them out.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

nice work John M and the boys

Anonymous said...

real professional. delete posts calling you guys out because you just steal reports from online newspapers and pawn them off as "sources".

Anonymous said...

i hate to break it to the guy above, but if you read ESPN, the Boston Globe and the Indianapolis Star today they have the SAME TRADE RUMORS attributed to different sources. You can only have so many rumors dude, doesn't mean they didn't talk to people and find them out themselves. Go back to phillysportsline.com

Anonymous said...

That same detractor keeps coming back to drive up the hits, so let him keep complaining. I appreciate the work you guys do. Well Done!

Anonymous said...

Doesn't anyone know anything about the rules? Marquis Daniels was traded to Indiana not signed meaning they can deal him anytime they please. Come on guys that only applies to players that signed deals in the offseason. I am sure you all already knew that though.

Anonymous said...

You guys just admit guilt of faking sources when you delete a post calling you guys out.

Anonymous said...

how do you figure that? Here is how we figure this out. Call the Wachovia Center and see if John McMullen was issued a press credential tonight. If not, read the stuff for what it is RUMORS. And why don't you google the writers on this site like I did before calling them guys sitting on their couch. They are ALL professional writers.

Anonymous said...

I googled them and all that came up was gay porn...

Anonymous said...

They are all part of a cult called the sports network. Get off their backs you slop asses.