What Will Become of Allen Iverson?

With Marcus Camby's unceremonious departure from Denver in July, speculation is running rampant about who may be next. Of course, the lightning rod for rumors and innuendo in Denver this summer is Allen Iverson and what comes of his expiring contract. Iverson had expressed interest in the past about working out an extension and staying in Denver.

No doubt that when Denver pulled the trigger on the deal that brought A.I. to Denver they were convinced he was going to be the guy who put them over the top into instant title contention. Unfortunately, Kenyon Martin's play continues to deteriorate, along with his aging, ailing knees and Nene Hilario cannot seem to stay healthy. So it has largely been the 'Melo and A.I. show in Denver the past year-and-a-half.

The thing about Iverson is he is 33-years-old and plays with such reckless abandon that one is not sure when he is going to start showing signs of wear and tear and start slowing down. Once that happens, his career is pretty much over and done with since he has never really taken the time to work on shot selection and becoming a more disciplined player on the court. Iverson's major advantage over opponents is his superior quickness and once he loses that quickness, he does not have the jump shot to survive in the NBA.

However, Iverson is coming off of one of his most productive seasons in years. He posted his second best-ever field goal and three-point percentages and his lowest-ever assist-to-turnover ratio. Certainly, he owes a lot of that to having an elite player like Carmelo Anthony to play off of. Conversely, I am sure Anthony will be the first to let it be known that having a guy like Iverson, who attacks the rim and demands the attention of defenses, as a teammate has led to him getting cleaner looks and shots at the basket.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months as, with an expiring contract in hand, Iverson does have some trade value and he can still fill it up on any given night, as he did lead the Nuggets in scoring last season. He also managed to play in every game last season and gave the Nuggets just under 42 minutes per game, so he is showing no signs of slowing down.

Iverson has also proven that he can share the ball with another superstar and, relatively speaking, he has toed the line in Denver, keeping the complaining to a minimum. Playing alongside a player like Carmelo Anthony and not stepping on his toes has probably gone along way to enhance his image around the league as being a guy who can be a good teammate when the time comes. One of the problems he always faced in Philadelphia was Billy King and Larry Brown would go out and deal young talent like Jerry Stackhouse, Tim Thomas, and get an over-the-hill marquee name like a Chris Webber, Glenn Robinson, or Derrick Coleman and expect Iverson to prop those guys up.

Would an aging team like Dallas that has key players like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, and Erick Dampier already at or over the age of 30 be interested in dealing for Iverson? Owner Mark Cuban is a win-at-all-costs kind of guy and surely he realizes the window is rapidly closing to win a championship with the current core of players he has. Or will a team like the Golden State Warriors, in desperate need of a marquee name, try and make a deal for A.I.? Given that Monta Ellis may not quite be ready to be a full-time PG, that may not be out of the realm of possibility. There is also the wild card of a team unexpectedly being in contention come January and making a play for Iverson hoping he can be the guy to push them over the top.

Ultimately, the $64,000 question is what is Denver's long-term goal is here. There is no doubt Iverson and Anthony make one of the deadliest scoring combinations in the league, but do Nuggets execs feel they can field a championship-caliber squad with those two on the roster? If the answer to that is no, then do they feel compelled to move Iverson potentially for young talent and draft picks in an effort to re-tool around Anthony before he can skip town via free agency? Do they risk alienating Anthony by cleaning house and starting over just to save money and get themselves back under the luxury tax threshold?