The big deal has happened. That first big trade during the season we’ve been waiting for has gone down. I am so excited to see that teams are making moves that I can barely even think about the effects of this trade.

Detroit Pistons GM Joe Dumars spent the entire offseason talking about how everyone should expect a shakeup. Many expected to see Chauncey Billups traded for a big name player to bring to Detroit, but no deal came together and fans began to have their doubts.

Dumars did not disappoint. He finally delivered the blockbuster trade of the season, thus far.

The Pistons acquired Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets in return for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. The deal also sent Cheik Samb to the Nuggets, a center drafter by the Lakers late in the 2nd round yaers back and traded to Detroit.

I expect that the Pistons will look great now that they finally have a big name superstar in town. They were lacking a player with killer instinct, however, Billups will be extremely difficult to replace as his production was increidble in a Pistons uniform. He seemed to have a great bond with Prince and Hamilton as well as Rasheed Wallace.

Dumars is known to gamble on questionable character players and Allen Iverson is no exception. The upside is that AI is in a contract year and if for whatever reason this experiment proves to be a failure right off the bat, expect Iverson to find a new home next summer. His $20 million salary would come of the Pistons books and create plenty of space to make another big shake up next summer.

The Nuggets have an interesting situation of their own with this trade. Billups will work great in finding Kenyon Martin and Nene Hilario on the inside, and hopefully he finds a way to connect with Carmelo as well.

The real issue for the Nuggets in this deal is Antonio McDyess. McDyess has expressed before that he has no interest playing anywhere else besides Detroit. At 34 years of age he wants to play for the Pistons and either win it all with them, or retire. We don’t know for sure yet, but expect for talks to begin about a possible buyout by the Nuggets or McDyess announcing his retirement.

As both teams are off to a decent start to their season, expect to see this shakeup create a little bump in the road to a successful post season to both.