Plus, access all our premium content! Become A Member Already a member? Log in here! Pitino Files: Why the Chauncey Billups trade was even worse than you remember. By Brian Robb. Mandatory Credit: Ezra O.
This made them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least 30 and 50 points respectively. On February 5, , Billups set a career high in points with a 39 point performance in a road win over the Los Angeles Lakers with 27 of them coming from 9 three-pointers. During the season as a Nugget, he averaged He played 51 games with the team that season. Despite publicly professing his desire to finish his career in hometown Denver and retire as a Nugget, Billups was traded to the New York Knicks on February 22, as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal.
Billups was "collateral damage"—as more than one sportswriter put it—of Carmelo Anthony's desire to play in New York and the Nuggets' desire to trade Anthony before he became a free agent. I told them it wasn't my choice, that nothing could be done about it. I had to go. It wasn't a happy scene. He played 21 games with the Knicks. The Knicks finished and clinched the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs for the first time since The injury would keep Billups sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs.
Shortly after the Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Celtics in a sweep, Billups mentioned that he would love to return to the Knicks next season. Have an opportunity to really get a fair shake with these guys. I would love to. After his tenure with the Knicks came to an end, Billups became an unrestricted free agent. Billups indicated that he didn't want to be picked up by a team that was not contending for a championship and said he would retire if he was, pushing the NBA to warn him and his agent that he would be "in breach of his contract" if he did not show up.
However, the Clippers ended up trading for the Hornets' superstar point guard Chris Paul two days later. After the Chris Paul trade, Billups said that he was happy to be with the Clippers, saying that " I think these guys are ready to take the next leap and hopefully I can help with that ". Billups, a point guard, was moved into the shooting guard position, which he was still getting used to when he was injured.
On February 7, , an MRI revealed a tear in Billups's Achilles tendon, ending his season and only appeared in 20 games. On July 13, , Billups re-signed with the Clippers on a 1 year deal. He made his season debut on November 28, , against the Timberwolves. Billups was limited to only 22 games during the season because of various injuries, including a sore back and tendinitis in his left foot.
Billups was humbled by the award, and said, " For my name to be mentioned with Jack Twyman , I really don't feel worthy, to be honest with you. It's kind of embarrassing. The Pistons made it into the playoffs, but served as a doormat for Cleveland. Dumars compounded matters that summer, giving away all of his savings to the biggest free agent disappointments in franchise history. Life for the Pistons may not have been all puppy dogs and ice cream if Dumars didn't trade Billups , but it couldn't have been worse.
Thankfully, Dumars finally realized the error of his ways -- he admitted that he regrets the trade, apologized and brought Billups back this past summer. Billups is now likely to retire as a Piston, but that never should have been in jeopardy when he was shipped out on Nov.
Exactly five years later, I'm just happy he'll be donning the blue, red and white tonight. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Stories Schedule Roster Stats.
Filed under: This day in Pistons history. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. On offense, in which Iverson was jacking up an amazing 32 percent of the team's field goal attempts, the 76ers were mediocre at best, shooting just Is anyone really that surprised that the Iverson-Carmelo hookup in Denver didn't even translate to a first-round win in the playoffs? This year, Detroit was mediocre at best with Iverson starting and Rip Hamilton on the bench. Iverson got hurt, Hamilton moved back into the starting lineup, and Detroit went on a tear.
What does Billups do? Defensively, he absolutely bullies the opposing point guard, and he expects his teammates to do the same on their opponents.
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