As part of the trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets and Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons, power forward Antonio McDyess was also sent from Detroit to Denver. Although McDyess’ inclusion in the trade didn’t make too many headlines, he’ll be a much wanted man over the next couple of weeks.

McDyess was released from his contract after being traded to Denver and will soon become a free agent. Although the 34-year-old is no longer a star, he’s a very serviceable bigman who can hit the perimeter jumper, defend and rebound. NBA teams will be lining up around the block to try to woo him.

Many league experts expect McDyess to end up back in Detroit. Previously, he had said that he’d rather retire than to play for another team than the Pistons. While McDyess definitely has ties to Detroit, he needs to take a closer look at the situation.

Prior to the season he lost his starting job to Amir Johnson, a young, athletic power forward prospect with an enormous upside. Soon after, the Pistons gave undersized yet energetic power forward Jason Maxiell a sizeable contract extension. Additionally, Kwame Brown was brought in during the offseason to supply bulk to the frontline of the Pistons. McDyess needs to read the writing on the wall and recognize that he no longer fits in Detroit.

While a number of teams will undoubtedly go after him including the defending champion Boston Celtics, the team that McDyess would fit best on is the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are a team that desperately needs what McDyess can bring to the table. Outside of Tim Duncan, the Spurs lack a quality bigman. And with both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out with injury, the Spurs could also use McDyess’ outside touch.

Once the Spurs get healthy, McDyess will have a starting role next to Duncan. He’ll have both Parker and Ginobili to feed him the ball and he’ll get as many open jumpers as he wants. If everything comes together for San Antonio, McDyess will even be able to have a shot at the 2008-09 NBA championship.

Tags: allen iverson, antonio mcdyess, basketball, denver nuggets, detroit pistons, nba, nba trades, San Antonio Spurs

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
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