MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES OWNER CONFIRMS OFFER TO ALLEN IVERSON

Allen Iverson is one of the most high profile NBA free agents left on the market, though his future plans may be determined in the next 48 hours.  On Wednesday, Iverson sent a Twitter update indicating that the Memphis Grizzlies had made him an offer.  Later that night, that information was confirmed by Memphis GM Chris Wallace.

Iverson had received the most interest from the Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat.  Both teams have a lot of upside for ‘The Answer’—the Bobcats are coached by his Larry Brown, whom Iverson played for in Philadelphia.  The notoriously hard to coach Iverson has always held Brown in high regard, and on a team struggling to find an identity he’d receive a lot of playing time and be the focal point of the team’s offense.  Miami would likely use Iverson in a reserve role—while he bristled at that assignment in Detroit, he’s suggested that he’d be more receptive to it on a contending team.

From a financial standpoint, however, there are problems with both Miami and Charlotte.  The Heat is already over the salary cap, and simply doesn’t have the personnel budget to pay Iverson what he could demand elsewhere.  Charlotte, meanwhile, is up for sale and for that reason under severe financial constraints.  They’d likely be able to offer Iverson a short term deal with the prospect for renegotiation later, but that may not be something he’s interested in.

Memphis, meanwhile, has $3.5 million dollars of free space under the salary cap.  They could easily outbid either Miami or Charlotte, and would also make Iverson the focal point of the team.  While GM Wallace confirmed that they’d made a formal offer to “AI” he was mum on the specific terms:

“We're heading into the home stretch before the season, and we have had interest in Allen all summer. We've been in touch on a fairly consistent basis and had dialogue with his agent, Leon Rose, since the beginning of free agency. We'll probably add another guard at some point, but we don't need to rush to do it."

 The enigmatic Iverson appeared in only 57 games for the Nuggets and Pistons due to injury and averaged a career-low 17.5 points per game.  His reputation for infighting with teammates and coaches is as legendary as his aversion to practice.  On the other hand, no one has ever questioned his talented, toughness or work ethic when the game starts.  Iverson remains one of the most potent scoring threats in the sport and his willingness to play through injuries that would land most NBA players on the disabled list has made him a fan favorite.  And that might be the crux of his appeal in Memphis—on a team going nowhere Iverson will put butts in the seats and get the local community excited about the Grizzles which is something that they’ve been unable to do with any regularity.