The newspaper, citing an unnamed source, said the team nearly sent Iverson to Charlotte for a "package of players" on Monday afternoon.
But Iverson apparently voiced his displeasure about the possibility of playing for the Bobcats, the Southeast Division's last-place team.
And the deal died.
But at least on a couple of fronts, a deal to Charlotte would have made sense.
The Bobcats, with roughly $38 million in players' salaries, are reportedly about $15 million under the salary cap of $53.1 million and could make a major player acquisition more easily than any other NBA team.
Charlotte has several players with short contracts — and The Philly Inquirer says that is just what the Sixers are looking for as they hope to finally get under the salary cap once Chris Webber's contract expires following the 2007-08 season.
Who are some of the lower-salaried players the Sixers might want in a potential Iverson deal? Guard Brevin Knight, who makes $4.4 million this season on a contract that expires in 2008; forward Melvin Ely, whose $3.3 million contract ends after this season; forward Othella Harrington (2008, $2.2 million this season); and underrated center Primoz Brezec (2008, $2.75 million this season).
Trading any or all of those players would not rattle the Bobcats' core group of guard Raymond Felton, guard Adam Morrison, forward Sean May or center Emeka Okafor.
Gerald Wallace is a player whom the Sixers might covet. But the 24-year-old guard continues to show signs of improvement on the court, and he is part of Charlotte's core group.
So is there a chance a deal might still happen?
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An executive of one team told the newspaper that the Bobcats are in the driver's seat to land Iverson in a trade.
"It's Michael [Jordan]'s deal to turn down," the executive reportedly said, referring to Charlotte's new minority owner.
As for Iverson, nearly all traces of the inactive star were gone from the Wachovia Center on Monday night. His nameplate was removed, his locker was cleaned out, and the pregame lineup video featured none of his dazzling highlights.
But Iverson, still officially with the Sixers, was inactive for the third straight game and probably won't be around when Philadelphia hosts Boston on Wednesday — unless he's playing for the Celtics. King said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday that he would not comment until a deal was done.
Webber, traded to Philly from Sacramento in a blockbuster deal in 2005, said he can understand what Iverson must be going through.
"I've been in that position where I felt I helped make a franchise," Webber said. "He cares about people, he cares about Philly. I know he's hurting about having to leave."
Iverson's not hurting enough to prevent him from requesting a trade last week. Sixers' owner Snider said on Friday the All-Star guard had "probably" played his last game with Philadelphia.
"We are so used to playing with Allen, I think that we have to adjust and make plays," Kyle Korver said.
Sixers' coach Maurice Cheeks was peppered all day with questions about Iverson, but said his only focus was on the players in the locker room and snapping the team's losing streak.
"I'm not here to say how this happened, how that happened," Cheeks said. "We're just going forward with the people we have and we're trying to win games. I think our team has been pretty good through all of this."
Iverson's relationship with Cheeks had deteriorated this season, with Iverson leaving a recent practice reportedly after a blowup with his coach. He skipped a team bowling function later that night, apologized and was fined by the organization.
When the Sixers hired Cheeks in May 2005, Iverson joked he was so elated Cheeks got the job he wanted to kiss him on the mouth. The two formed a close relationship when Cheeks was an assistant coach with the Sixers.
"If you got a problem with Mo Cheeks, there must be something wrong with you," Iverson said at the time.
Cheeks said he would only look back fondly on Iverson's 10-plus seasons with the Sixers.
"I have no hard feelings about Allen, none whatsoever," Cheeks said. "He's been a phenomenal player for 11 years. There have been not many people who can stay as consistent as he has his years in the NBA."
While Cheeks said he had not talked to Iverson, third-year swingman Andre Iguodala - Philly's other A.I. — said he had a brief conversation with his soon-to-be former teammate to see how he was holding up. Iguodala joked he asked to borrow one of Iverson's chains, but didn't talk about all the swirling trade rumors.
"Any time a player who's had a great and successful career in this city, whenever it ends, it's kind of bitter," Iguodala said.
Korver said the Sixers are prepared for a season without Iverson. "We want it to be over. We just want to move on," he said. "Obviously now Allen is probably going to be traded, or is going to be traded, so we just want to move on and not have to have long interviews after shootaround."
But Iverson apparently voiced his displeasure about the possibility of playing for the Bobcats, the Southeast Division's last-place team.
And the deal died.
But at least on a couple of fronts, a deal to Charlotte would have made sense.
The Bobcats, with roughly $38 million in players' salaries, are reportedly about $15 million under the salary cap of $53.1 million and could make a major player acquisition more easily than any other NBA team.
Charlotte has several players with short contracts — and The Philly Inquirer says that is just what the Sixers are looking for as they hope to finally get under the salary cap once Chris Webber's contract expires following the 2007-08 season.
Who are some of the lower-salaried players the Sixers might want in a potential Iverson deal? Guard Brevin Knight, who makes $4.4 million this season on a contract that expires in 2008; forward Melvin Ely, whose $3.3 million contract ends after this season; forward Othella Harrington (2008, $2.2 million this season); and underrated center Primoz Brezec (2008, $2.75 million this season).
Trading any or all of those players would not rattle the Bobcats' core group of guard Raymond Felton, guard Adam Morrison, forward Sean May or center Emeka Okafor.
Gerald Wallace is a player whom the Sixers might covet. But the 24-year-old guard continues to show signs of improvement on the court, and he is part of Charlotte's core group.
So is there a chance a deal might still happen?
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An executive of one team told the newspaper that the Bobcats are in the driver's seat to land Iverson in a trade.
"It's Michael [Jordan]'s deal to turn down," the executive reportedly said, referring to Charlotte's new minority owner.
As for Iverson, nearly all traces of the inactive star were gone from the Wachovia Center on Monday night. His nameplate was removed, his locker was cleaned out, and the pregame lineup video featured none of his dazzling highlights.
But Iverson, still officially with the Sixers, was inactive for the third straight game and probably won't be around when Philadelphia hosts Boston on Wednesday — unless he's playing for the Celtics. King said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday that he would not comment until a deal was done.
Webber, traded to Philly from Sacramento in a blockbuster deal in 2005, said he can understand what Iverson must be going through.
"I've been in that position where I felt I helped make a franchise," Webber said. "He cares about people, he cares about Philly. I know he's hurting about having to leave."
Iverson's not hurting enough to prevent him from requesting a trade last week. Sixers' owner Snider said on Friday the All-Star guard had "probably" played his last game with Philadelphia.
"We are so used to playing with Allen, I think that we have to adjust and make plays," Kyle Korver said.
Sixers' coach Maurice Cheeks was peppered all day with questions about Iverson, but said his only focus was on the players in the locker room and snapping the team's losing streak.
"I'm not here to say how this happened, how that happened," Cheeks said. "We're just going forward with the people we have and we're trying to win games. I think our team has been pretty good through all of this."
Iverson's relationship with Cheeks had deteriorated this season, with Iverson leaving a recent practice reportedly after a blowup with his coach. He skipped a team bowling function later that night, apologized and was fined by the organization.
When the Sixers hired Cheeks in May 2005, Iverson joked he was so elated Cheeks got the job he wanted to kiss him on the mouth. The two formed a close relationship when Cheeks was an assistant coach with the Sixers.
"If you got a problem with Mo Cheeks, there must be something wrong with you," Iverson said at the time.
Cheeks said he would only look back fondly on Iverson's 10-plus seasons with the Sixers.
"I have no hard feelings about Allen, none whatsoever," Cheeks said. "He's been a phenomenal player for 11 years. There have been not many people who can stay as consistent as he has his years in the NBA."
While Cheeks said he had not talked to Iverson, third-year swingman Andre Iguodala - Philly's other A.I. — said he had a brief conversation with his soon-to-be former teammate to see how he was holding up. Iguodala joked he asked to borrow one of Iverson's chains, but didn't talk about all the swirling trade rumors.
"Any time a player who's had a great and successful career in this city, whenever it ends, it's kind of bitter," Iguodala said.
Korver said the Sixers are prepared for a season without Iverson. "We want it to be over. We just want to move on," he said. "Obviously now Allen is probably going to be traded, or is going to be traded, so we just want to move on and not have to have long interviews after shootaround."
hno: "We're talking about Bobcats" :lol:
