With the trade between the Pistons and Nuggets, the landscape of the NBA has changed a bit.  Denver has acquired a very good team leader, who is underrated in my opinion.  Detroit has acquired...well, he's a scorer. 

I've said it before, Detroit's primary weapon on offense was their balance.  On most nights, four of the five starters would score in double figures for the Pistons and then usually one or two of their bench players would drop in seven to ten points each.  They were dangerous that way.  Now, with Allen Iverson on their team, that balance is out of whack.  Imagine a basketball with a lump in it as it rolls straight down the court.  As it hits that lump, the ball moves in a different direction that it was before and doesn't continue to the same target it once was.  That is how I see the Pistons now.

At the beginning of the season, I thought that Detroit would be the number two team in the East.  Now, I'm not so sure.  I'm really not ready to say that Cleveland is number two yet, so I will just say that the East basically looks like this for playoff seeding:

1. Boston
2. Everyone else

Iverson is a much more capable scorer than Billups, but he doesn't have the same kind of leadership that Billups has.  Iverson can create his own shots, where Billups is more than willing to create a shot for someone else.  Iverson needs to be the star to be effective, Billups does not. 

I wonder who is going to be running the point now.  Is it going to be AI?  Maybe Detroit goes with a small lineup of Rodney Stuckey, AI, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Rasheed Wallace.  I just don't see this team being successful.  Right now, Iverson is like the new kid in school that is going to have to do something really cool to get accepted by the other kids.  But, in the end, I just see him getting tricked to go into the closet to "make out with the hot girl", when really the hot girl ends up being a goat.

I've heard the rumblings and grumblings and rumors of Detroit making a play for LeBron and Chris Bosh in 2010, but I really don't see LeBron leaving Cleveland to go to Detroit.  LeBron is a mega superstar and he needs 1) the spotlight and 2) a storied franchise.  While Detroit might have a great winning past, it really isn't the hotbed for celebrity lifestyle. 

In the end, I see Cleveland coming out on top of the Central division, but I'm not sure how far Detroit falls down with this trade.  Denver tried Iverson to get over the hump and it clearly didn't work.  Is there more of the same for Detroit?  Either way, I feel less frightened of Detroit when the Pacers play them now.

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