Yup, people are going to reject this idea immediately.
There’s a reason for that.

But we should all remember how awesome Iverson was in his prime. There will never be another player like him, for better or worse. He had so much talent he never had to make adjustments for a professional career.

It’s not a terrible idea for a 1 year trial.

Tyrus is hurt, so we’d probably move Deng to the 4 and Gibson to the bench, with Salmons to his natural 3 spot (he’s handled the ball so poorly at the 2).

The reason Memphis wanted Iverson to come off the bench is because he brings that bench unit scoring, not necessarily because he’s not starter worthy. He just fits better with the 2nd unit but apparently his mind cannot handle that.

I’m not sure how that situation was botched, after Detroit and all those meetings with Memphis you’d of thought they would have talked about exactly what he would do for the team. Maybe he was promised a starting role but after he got injured they changed their minds?

Either way, for 1-2 million or so I think he would be worth considering as our 2 guard.

but this is probably the worst idea i’ve read on this blog. Without sarcasm, i’d rather have Larry Hughes back than bring Iverson onto this team. He adds nothing positive, and is a team killer on both ends of the court, as well as in the locker room.

On offense, he’s a low efficiency scorer who wants to take every shot. He does not space the floor and is a career 31% shooter from 3 point range, which dropped to 28% last year. In Detroit last year, hes eFG% was .432 in 50 games. .432! In comparison, Salmons was .543, and Hinrich was .519.

In the past Iverson led teams that were built around him taking all the shots… he led the league for 6 out of 7 years in usage % where he averaged over 35%. Problem is, he wants to do the same for teams that are not built around him and his shot selection. As the primary ball handler who had the ball more than anyone in the league, and who has averaged 42mpg, his career high in assists is less than 8. In the year he went to the finals, he had 4.6 assists in 42 minutes. What i’m stressing here is that he’s not a PG and the degree to which his game and past success depended on a team that was built around him taking every shot.

On defense, where Hughes had ability, Iverson has none. At 6’ even, he’s short for even a PG. Gordon is on the all defensive team as compared to Iverson, who only had one trick in his youth, which was to use his amazing speed to get 3 steals working the passing lanes. Now that he’s no longer as speedy, he gets lit up by every SG and PG that he goes up against, as he lacks the ability, height, or will to shut them down.

You say it can’t hurt to sign him? This is the same guy that went to the media and complained after 1 game in Memphis that he deserved to start, right? The guy that will refuse to play for you if he doesn’t start and get his minutes. Two different teams in less than a year have decided they’d rather pay him to sit at home than come to the arena and be a distraction with his selfish demands.

All of you that think this is a good idea, where does he make the Bulls better? You seriously want to start a 6 foot, poor defense not even considering height, low efficiency player who believes he’s the top offensive threat and demands the ball, career 31% 3pt shooter…. at SG next to Derrick Rose? Over who? Making a panic trade to get rid of Salmons after 5 games will certainly kill this season, and is not necessarily going to improve the future.

The reason we’re winning is improved D. Iverson and Rose makes our backcourt possibly the league’s worst defensively. Any offense we get from AI negated by guards penetrating into the lane at will. Rose will have to guard the SGs cause AI is only 5 foot 11. And if Deng is a 4 permanently, that is an injury just waiting to happen.

There is no point in bringing in AI besides salary cap purposes. He is done as a player, can still score but it’s not even worth it anymore.

WTF were you thinking, haven’t you read the espn articles lately about him being a cancer?? You want to bring a supersized ego-maniac to a team that has chemistry?? You sir are a MORON!

I’m not exactly sure we need a shooter over a guy that will take the ball to the hoop or take short jumpers.

Deng, Salmons, Hinrich, even Rose this year (Miller as well) all take plenty of jump shots for us.

We don’t need another guy taking 19 foot jumpers with a hand in their face.

Not saying Iverson is the answer, but for his cost (probably cheaper than Pargo if he gets on waivers) I don’t see a huge negative. We could just cut him if he caused trouble, and I think he has a ton more upside than a Lindsay Hunter, Jannero Pargo or Aaron Gray.

Just saying… no need to freak out on the author of this fanpost, even if you disagree.

I dunno, the games I’ve seen (except for the Spurs game) we’ve basically taken a pass then taken a long 2 point shot 75% of the time. I don’t think that’s good for any team.

Rose hasn’t been driving as much, Salmons seems to dribble the ball off his foot half the time he drives to the hole and while Deng has been more active, at times he reverts back to that 18 foot contested jumper.

It’s not like these are shots that go on after 6 passes or when the shot clock is at 5 seconds. We’ve been way too content taking jumpers instead of driving the lane. Luckily Deng and Noah have been great on the offensive boards this year and our defense has been solid or we’d probably only have one or two wins right now.

It’s not like we don’t have shooters. Hinrich and Miller and Salmons and Deng are pretty good open shooters. They just aren’t guys you want to rely on from 18 feet out when they aren’t open, but there aren’t many guys you can rely on in that spot in this league.

since we’re on the ‘2010 or bust’ plan anyways.
I don’t think Salmons is going to opt out. This’ll give us $6 million more for the year, and the worst thing AI can do to us is not show up, which isn’t too bad.
We don’t have enough guard depth to do it, though.

 If he retires I would rather have Iversaon coming off the bench instead of Pargo…but he is not a starter on a contender anymore…more like a sixth man

Iverson said he will NEVER come off the bench.

I mean, there’s obviously no reason to even think of signing Iverson unless we wanted him to start as our 2.

If we signed him to a non guaranteed contract we could just cut him at first sign.

But the people that say “no way” do raise interesting points, particularly his low FG % and to an extent his defense.

I do remember him being good on fast breaks and anticipating steals, but that’s obviously a gambling game (though one that paid off for Ariza last year and he’s “all defender”).

It’s not a move I’m positive on, but I think it’s worth the Bulls to at least review. I will stipulate that I feel like any GM should be constantly reviewing these types of matters, so it’s not anything out of the ordinary for me to have this opinion.

I wouldn’t trade Salmons for him, if u said Pargo and Gray I’d jump at it tho LOL… In all seriousness, the thing that this team is lacking is someone who can put the ball in the basket. A.I. is a master at this.

During the offseason, I truly believe he was looking for a spot to start. I really believe a lot of the blame for what’s going on now has to go to the Grizz management. The way they brought him in made it seem like he would be a starter, they brought him there to put butts in the seats everyone knows that. Ur “star” attraction shouldn’t be coming off the bench. Plus, do u really believe that Conley is a better player than him? I don’t and u know he doesn’t. The Grizz should have made their plans known before signing him, I bet if he knew from jump he’d be coming off the bench, he never would have signed. During his leave of absence, I truly believe that he’s taking an introspective look at things, which is where the retirement talk comes from. He can still be a valuable piece to a contending team, just not a starter, and maybe he’s realizing that, he’s better off coming off the bench for a contender than starting for a hopeless Grizz team. Something that I think pride got in the way of before.

 If he’s released or retires, and a contending squad comes to him like, “Look AI we have a spot for u where u will get consistent minutes, but u won’t be a starter, we want u as our 1st scoring option off the bench.” I can’t see him turning it down or becoming a problem.

I’d love to have him coming off the bench with Hinrich. He would be a better BG in my mind.

What makes people think he cannot still ball… The man was fearless forever and always put fans in the seats. And for a reason. Iverson is exactly the player the Bulls need right now. He’s a hall of famer. If people think that Shaq (super fat &old) and lebron (super-sick) could be a contending duo, then why wouldnt the thought of Rose (sick) and Iverson (old) be a decent remedy of a backcourt. I think that with the talent surrounding them it would be a team to contend for a title this year.. No joke.. Think about it. And I am pretty sure Iverson would figure out who is the more elite player between him and rose… I bet a 1 VS 1 game would be enticed during a practice, and rose would rock him…