The 2004 offseason was destined to be anything but quiet. Allen Iverson had been put on the trading block by his parent team, Philadelphia.
In the end, the Sacramento Kings traded for this MVP-caliber scoring champion!
Peja Stojaković + Hedo Türkoğlu + two first-round picks—the Sacramento Kings had paid a king's ransom!!!
Peja, after all, had averaged 21+5+3 that season and was an elite shooter with a 43.7% three-point percentage.
He was not that old, either, and Philadelphia wanted to gamble on whether he had the potential to become a star.
Türkoğlu was also one of the league's rare playmaking forwards, with highly reliable shooting as well.
The arrival of these two wings would allow Philadelphia to remain a playoff-caliber team while gradually stockpiling young talent.
Meanwhile, the Kings had assembled three giants at once: Iverson, Webber, and Pierce!!!
All three were superstars capable of changing the course of a game!
In an instant, the Sacramento Kings became a galactic superteam second only to the Los Angeles Lakers!
But while the trade market was in full swing, Team USA suffered a major setback at the Athens Olympics.
Many stars declined to join the sixth Dream Team, coached by Larry Brown.
Kobe led the way, while Iverson also abandoned plans to compete in the Olympics because of the trade. Duncan had originally intended to participate, but when he saw that there was not a single true superstar on the team, he promptly gave up as well.
In the end, Ray Allen led a large group of talented young rookies from the past two years into battle.
At first, the Americans had been brimming with confidence, believing that even if their talented players were young, they would still be enough to dominate a stage like the Olympics.
The team roster: 1, Ray