The sun sets, the Pistons hold off the Larry and Shannon Brown-led Charlotte Bobcats, and we know a little more about the big trade.

Did we make a good deal? The scariest possibility is that while Iverson may be more famous, at this point in their careers maybe Billups is better. He’s more durable, bigger, possesses a style of play that’s less susceptible to the effects of age, younger and much better defensively. On the other hand, Iverson is still an elite scorer the likes of which the Pistons don’t have and haven’t had, and secondly — the key to this deal — he’s not Billups. Meaning he’s not the leader of the stagnant group that keeps losing in the conference finals; he hasn’t won a title; and (note that this isn’t exactly a compliment) he doesn’t have a strong record of team success. But maybe he’ll use this opportunity to try urgently to win and change perceptions. Joe Dumars has a history of taking chances with guys who have something to prove.

I love Chauncey Billups. Like I said earlier, I want to retire his number. But that misses Dumars’ point, right? Something had to change. It’s not that Dumars decided that Billups can’t play, it’s that he decided the Pistons had grown unacceptably complacent. If you want to shake up the culture, replacing the captain with a hungry, late-career version of The Answer seems like a fine start.

And then of course there’s the long-term play. Iverson’s contract will come off the books this winter, whereas Billups will have two years left on his deal after the season. Coupled with Rasheed’s expiring deal, the Pistons will have giant mounds of cap space to pursue free agents, and in the next couple of years it seems like half the Olympic team (including Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade) could hit the market. Assuming Rodney Stuckey becomes a star — and clearly this move indicates Joe D. assumes that — we’d be pretty well positioned for years to come. (And not all of our old favorites are getting shown the doow: this afternoon, Dumars signed Richard Hamilton to a three-year, $34 million extension.

So, thumbs up or down? Qualified up. This season, maybe we get back to the Finals, but then again we’re probably less likely to continue the string of conference finals appearances than we were yesterday. Long term, maybe we can use our cap space to sign a cornerstone, but plenty of teams have been in similar situations and struck out. But I trust Joe Dumars, so I feel good about this gamble paying off. (I tried to ask myself how I would feel if Matt Millen made the same deal, but I couldn’t get past the idea that a Millen-led team would’ve had to become a mini-dynasty in order to get to this scenario.)

One more thing. Though it’ll be years before we can judge this deal effectively, we’ll know more about one key component in the next several days: the resolution of the Antonio McDyess Saga. This afternoon, McDyess looked poised to pull a Lindsey Hunter, where we trade him but then the Nuggets waive him and then the Pistons re-sign him a couple of days later. The Nuggets, though, are apparently reluctant to participate in that plan. McDyess is threatening to retire if he can’t return to the Pistons, so it will come down to a sales job by the Denver brass.