Allen Iverson - Reuters

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

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 yesterday by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nuggets for André Miller, Joe Smith and two 2007 first-round picks. The Nuggets also get Ivan McFarlin.

NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games because of a weekend brawl between the Nuggets and New York Knicks. Iverson now takes his 31.2-point scoring average to Denver and ends 10 turbulent seasons with the franchise that made him the number one overall pick in 1996.

Nuggets Vice-President of Player Personnel Rex Chapman said Iverson and Anthony will "be a dynamic duo together. They are going to take this franchise to new heights".

Iverson, a seven-time All-Star, 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. Since then the team has fallen from the elite, missing the play-offs twice in the last three seasons.

Worse year

This year is worse, with the 76ers on an 11-game losing streak. Only Memphis (5-19) have a worse record than the 76ers (5-18), who are winless since November 24.

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

Sixers team President Billy King thanked Iverson for his 11 years in Philadelphia.

"I think he gave us all some great excitement," King said. "I think he's one of the greatest ever to play the game."

Iverson's relationship with the only team he's ever played for was irreversibly broken once he asked for a trade two weeks ago.

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 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.

Top-notch performance

No matter the drama in Iverson's life, it rarely affected his performance on the court. Even this season, with Iverson unhappy and the 76ers stuck in last place, he still is second in the league in scoring (behind Anthony) and 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 February 12, 2005.

But as dynamic Iverson has been, and as thrilling as it can be to watch the six-foot tattooed bundle of energy play, only twice did he lead the Sixers out of the second round of the play-offs. And Philadelphia were only a modest 355-342 (.509 winning percentage) with Iverson in the lineup for regular-season games.

At his best, he has been the ultimate gamer; a hustling, hard-charging MVP who became one of the most popular players in the league. His number three jersey was always one of the top sellers. Only Minnesota's Kevin Garnett has been with one team longer than Iverson among active players.