August 12, 2008 – Dr. Dime
Well it’s about damn time, huh? I was very happy tonight to hear about the Philadelphia 76ers paying their main man his due. Well at least he was the main man until this summer when the Sixers hit the jackpot by landing Elton Brand, one of the top power forwards in the game today. Nevertheless the Sixers long term future rises and falls with their young talent on their roster, of which Andre Iguodala is clearly the headliner. As ESPN is reporting it, Iguodala and the Sixers have agreed to terms on a 6-year deal that will pay Iggy $80 million dollars.
Although there are many skeptics out there that believe Iguodala is not worth that kind of big money normally reserved for the top NBA All-stars, in my opinion A.I. is exactly the type of player that should be getting that type of money.
Why?
It’s quite simple really, ‘defense’ and ‘work ethic’. Right from his rookie year with the 76ers, Iguodala was considered to be a defensive specialist, but also possessing huge potential with a raw high-flying offensive game mainly predicated on his freakish athletic ability. Not only has Iggy transformed himself over the last three years into a great triple threat with the ball, but he has worked hard on his long range shooting and has become one of the better outside shooters on this Sixer squad. This past season in fact Iguodala had his biggest offensive output, averaging 19.9 points per game while still averaging 4.8 assists per game. Since Iguodala has always been considered a great on the ball defender ever since starting for the Sixers in his 2004-05 rookie season for that exact reason, it is a bit ironic that it is his offense that is largely the motivator for the Sixers agreeing to pay Iguodala such a large sum of money.
What surprises me the most however is the length of time it took for the Sixers GM Ed Stefanski to lock up Iguodala. Last summer the Sixers couldn’t come to terms with Iguodala on an extension under past GM Billy King, however I assumed that after signing Brand and being a witness to some big name free agent movement this summer, Stefanski would fold in the negotiations a bit sooner. There is a fine balance between fiscal responsibility and risking offending your franchise player with a low offer. But regardless of how the transaction went down the good news for Stefanski and the Philadelphia fans is that it appears that the contract will be signed post-haste.
What do you all think, is Andre Iguodala worth the contract? Is he a worthy $80 million dollar man?
