Iverson traded by 76ers to Nuggets

PHILADELPHIA — A day after losing one superstar for a month, the Denver Nuggets got an even bigger one — Allen Iverson.

The four-time scoring champion was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nuggets, a person in the NBA with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

The trade would send Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two 2007 first-round picks to the 76ers for Iverson and another minimum-salaried player, another person familiar with the trade told the AP.

A news conference was expected to be held Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Anthony was suspended for 15 games because of a weekend brawl with the New York Knicks. Iverson now takes his 31.2 scoring average to the Nuggets and ends 10 turbulent seasons with the franchise that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 1996.

Iverson, a seven-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion, transformed the 76ers from lottery losers to contenders, though he couldn't bring home an NBA title to this championship-starved city. He came close in 2001, when the 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals, but since then the team has fallen from the elite, missing the playoffs twice in the last three seasons.

Now the 31-year-old Iverson's chase for a coveted championship will continue in the Western Conference.

Iverson's relationship with the only team he's ever played for was irreversibly broken once he asked for a trade last week. Iverson had just been fined for missing a team function and his relationship with coach Maurice Cheeks had deteriorated to where the cornrowed point guard didn't want to play for him anymore.

The 76ers sent Iverson home for good nearly two weeks ago after holding him out of a morning shootaround. Chairman Ed Snider said then the All-Star guard had "probably" played his last game in Philly. His nameplate was removed, his locker was cleaned out, and his dazzling highlights were edited out of a pregame video package.

Only Memphis (5-19) has a worse record than the 76ers (5-18), who are winless since Nov. 24.

No matter the drama in Iverson's personal life, it rarely affected his performance on the court. Even this season, with Iverson unhappy and the 76ers stuck in last place, he still leads the league in scoring with 31.2 points, averaged 42.7 minutes and 2.2 steals.

He's averaging 28.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.3 steals in 697 career games. Iverson scored a career-high 60 points against Orlando on Feb. 12, 2005.