Does trading Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb for Allen Iverson make sense on the court? We'll have to wait and see when AI takes the court with the Pistons for the first time tomorrow night in New Jersey. One thing is for sure, though: it's making cents off the court.Apologies for the pun, but here are some numbers for you to chew on, courtesy of Detroit's PR department: the Pistons averaged over 5,000 individual ticket sales on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. In that same span, they've sold an additional 100 full-season tickets. The team has also taken over 1,000 orders for Iverson's new jersey. (Considering he's wearing the same number Billups did, the old "masking tape and marker" trick is a frugal alternative.)
Not surprisingly, the team's official web site has seen a major traffic spike, as well: after averaging just under 85,000 page views a day the week prior to the trade, it's averaged almost 490,000 page views over each of the last three days.
When will Iverson fans not living in metro Detroit be able to see Iverson play with his new teammates? They'll get two chances next week: the Pistons were already scheduled to appear on ESPN when they play the Lakers on Friday, Nov. 14, and TNT just picked up their game against the Warriors the night before. Fans hoping to see Billups in his new uni won't have to wait nearly as long: he's expected to play tomorrow when the Nuggets take on the Mavericks on ESPN.
