Detroit Pistons: 5 worst free agency moves in franchise history

4. The Allen Iverson trade

Contract: 1 year, $20.8 million (traded from Denver Nuggets)

Leave it to the Detroit Pistons to find an answer to a question no one asked. The Pistons thought they had found The Answer.  When things are going well, the Pistons will find a way to ruin it.

Two days after the start of the 2008 season, the Pistons decided to send fan favorite Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson.

Iverson discussed his chaotic season in Detroit with NBA TV analyst Steve Smith in an interview shortly before his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

"“Detroit was a bad situation for me,” Iverson told Smith. “I was told something, and I was promised something that wasn’t to be.”"

Even on paper, it looked like a bad fit for everyone involved.

The Pistons had excellent chemistry with Billups and by 2008 they were clicking like a finely tuned machine. The last thing Detroit needed was a me-first “bad boy.” Iverson played 54 games in Detroit, shooting just 41.6 percent from the field and posting the worst scoring average of his career at 17.4 points per game.

Billups returned to his native Denver and led the Nuggets to their first conference finals in 24 seasons. Meanwhile, Iverson’s scoring average dropped nine points from the previous season and the Pistons were swept in the first round of the playoffs.

For Detroit, Iverson was not The Answer everyone was hoping for.