NBA Free Agency: Allen Iverson to the Los Angeles Clippers?

The headline might sound a little crazy and unlikely, but believe it or not, the Los Angeles Clippers are the frontrunners to sign free agent Allen Iverson right now.

When Allen Iverson went on the free agent market for the first time in his career this NBA offseason he was getting interest for almost no teams. Iverson is arguably the best six foot guard ever to play this game and still has a few good years left in him, but along with his scoring touch comes baggage.

A general manager of any NBA team would be nuts to say they wouldn’t like Allen Iverson on their team, he brings defense, passing and an uncanny ability to put up 30 to 40 points on any given night. Like most great players in the NBA though, he doesn’t want to come off the bench when he knows he is still one of the best players in the league at the guard position.

Personally, I can’t really blame Iverson for not wanting to be a bench player. His entire career all the way down to his high school days, Iverson has been a starter and the star of the team. Even when Iverson was the All American quarterback he was the man, but now since most teams are either trying to go younger or already have their superstar guards in place it seems like there is no place for Iverson to fit in.

Initially, the Memphis Grizzles, Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats were interested in signing Iverson, but he would have a limite role on these teams. Now it seems that the Los Angeles Clippers are in the hunt for Iverson and are in serious talks to bring the superstar to Los Angeles.

Will Iverson fit in with the Clippers? Remains to be seen, but the potential of a Baron Davis, Allen Iverson backcourt and a Blake Griffin, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman frontcourt could be a title contender.

The only problem will be convincing Iverson to come off the bench for either Baron Davis at the point or second year man Eric Gordon at the two guard. Who knows though? Maybe coach Mike Dunleavy will come up with a way to get Iverson 30 minutes or so off the bench.

Out of the three teams mentioned before that are interested in AI the Memphis Grizzles seems like the most likely destination because Iverson might get a starting role and that he should, but I get the feeling the temptation of coming to LA to play with Blake Griffin and Baron Davis will be too much to resist even if he has to come off the bench.

In my opinion, adding Iverson to the Clippers makes them contenders. Maybe not title contenders just yet, but playoff contenders without a doubt. The Clippers are a team stacked with talent up and down the roster, but failed to put it together last season do to a serious lack of team chemistry and injuries. With Iverson in the mix though and hot head Zach Randolph gone things might start to turn around for the other team in LA.

It would be interesting to see how it all unfolds if Iverson does chose to sign with the Clippers, which would be one year deal for the mid-level exception, but if it does work the West might have another contender to watch out for besides the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs.