76ers Give Up on Backcourt, Deal Stackhouse to Pistons

The Philadelphia 76ers’ backcourt apparently wasn’t big enough for both Allen Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse.

So the 76ers shipped Stackhouse, the shooting guard they once hoped to build around, to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday along with center Eric Montross for center Theo Ratliff, guard Aaron McKie and a future first-round draft choice.

“It wasn’t working out on the court,” Coach Larry Brown said of the teaming of point guard Iverson with Stackhouse.

The 76ers and Pistons had been talking about the trade for several days, but it wasn’t completed until Thursday afternoon, when Detroit finally sweetened the pot with a first-round pick.

Billy King, the 76ers’ vice president of basketball administration, wouldn’t specify when that pick would be.

Another reason Brown listed for trading Stackhouse, 23, is that he had already told them he wasn’t interested in returning to Philadelphia at the end of the season, when he becomes a free agent.

Stackhouse was the 76ers’ second-leading scorer with a 16-point average. He also had a career-high .452 shooting percentage.

“Everyone knows Jerry Stackhouse is a talented young player that will help us offensively,” Piston Coach Doug Collins said. “We need to score more points, and he will certainly do that. He also gives us more presence on the perimeter, which will be beneficial to Grant Hill.”

Brown said the 76ers will start Jimmy Jackson at shooting guard and Ratliff, 24, probably will start at center.

Montross, 26, joins his fifth NBA team in four pro seasons. McKie is a 25-year-old Philadelphia native who played at Temple.

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Houston Rocket star forward Charles Barkley was formally charged in Orlando, Fla., with throwing a man through a plate-glass window at a popular downtown bar.

Barkley was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and resisting an officer without violence for the Oct. 26 fight, said Tracy Sutherland, a spokeswoman for the Orange County State Attorney’s Office.

Barkley claimed he was provoked after 20-year-old Jorge Lugo threw a glass of ice at a table he was sitting at with three women.

Lugo, who suffered a small cut to his upper right arm, also was charged with disorderly conduct.

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Eight-year-old Derameo Johnson meekly approached Chicago Bull forward Scottie Pippen in Deerfield, Ill., and asked the big question: “Are you going to get back on the team?”

Pippen smiled shyly and, almost whispering, responded: “Yeah.”

He repeated the same answer to similar questions at the Chicago Bulls’ annual holiday party for underprivileged children--until the media began asking.

So has Pippen indeed reconsidered his demand to be traded by an organization he claims doesn’t respect him?

“Don’t pin me down,” said Pippen, recovering from October foot surgery and has yet to play this season.

“I’m trying to let everything fall in place,” he said. “I really don’t want to be disruptive to the team. I don’t want to start everything back up. I want to get myself ready. I’ve made my point about what I want to do. If something happens, great. If not, we’ll just have to wait and see.”