The man who could decide an NBA title is sitting at home.
Andre Iguodala, the X-factor in all those Golden State Warriors championships, was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies this past summer to help the mostly capped-out Dubs acquire D’Angelo Russell.
Since then, he hasn’t played a minute for the rebuilding Griz as he waits for Memphis to either find him a new home via a trade or a buyout. No matter what route he ends up taking to a new team, the truth is this: he may swing the balance of power in an NBA without one clear front-runner, where — as of Thursday — nearly half the league is above .500.
The rumors and reports have connected him to the Los Angeles Lakers, which would make so much sense for veteran forward. His former agent is Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ GM. They don’t necessarily have the best option at small forward off the bench since Kyle Kuzma is more of a stretch power forward.
But fit isn’t the issue — Iggy is still a veteran leader who might have faded offensively in recent years but who is still a force defensively and whose numbers get better in the postseason (he was a one steal, one block, one three player in last year’s Warriors run).
The funny thing to me is I’d actually want Iguodala if I was a West team trying to get by the Lakers — he’s been known to D up LeBron James pretty well in the past. I’d love to see Iguodala in the Nuggets’ rotation despite their glut of small forwards. Just for laughs, I want the Clippers to grab him just to add to their already-nightmarish defense. And what about an East contender? Imagine having to face the Bucks with Khris Middleton and then see Iguodala heading toward the scorer’s table? A reunion with the 76ers would get the fan base pumped.
Here’s the problem with a trade — will a contender deal what might be a high price (a first-rounder?) for a player past his prime? The other: he’s owed $17.1 million this year, so the team that would trade for him would need to make the move work under the salary cap, something tricky if a contender has a stacked rotation it doesn’t want to dismantle for one player.
That all looks to me like a player who’s going to be sitting through the NBA trade deadline in February, receive a buyout and find himself on a roster soon after.
And that might be the move that pushes someone over the top in the postseason.
[opinary poll=”do-the-lakers-need-andre-iguodala-to-win” customer=”forthewin”]
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