Although rumors are a dime a dozen in today’s NBA, the re-occurring one seems to be that Philadelphia 76ers leading scorer Andre Iguodala either wants out of the “City of Brotherly Love” or won’t have a choice in the matter. Speculation around the league is that ever since the Sixers drafted Evan Turner with the #2 pick in the draft this Summer that both players would have problems co-existing on the Sixers roster.
Through a reliable source, Chris Brousard over at ESPN is reporting:
I’m told by well-placed sources that Andre Iguodala would like a change of scenery; that after spending the summer winning a World Championship with Team USA Iguodala can’t stomach going through another losing season in Philadelphia, especially when there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. The sources said that while Iguodala’s camp has not requested a trade, it has let Sixers management know that if the team doesn’t begin winning, he’d like to be moved elsewhere.
The Sixers, however, deny having had any such conversations with Iguodala. So what’s the deal?
Living just North of Philadelphia, and as a life-long Sixers fan, I can testify that Andre is a tough player to get a handle on whether on or off the court. He been a bit of an enigma, after being selected as a lottery pick(#9 overall in ‘04) despite putting up good but not great overall numbers(9.6 ppg and 6.6 rebs) at the University of Arizona. He impressed NBA scouts with his outstanding athleticism and determination to keeping in bodybuilder type shape but really hasn’t lived up to being such a high selection. He is non confrontational but surely knows that revealing his true feelings of possibly wanting to leave town would alienate a rabid Philly fan-base against him. So it’s not surprising that the rumor can neither be confirmed or denied.
True, he has been the de-facto leader of the team ever since Allen Iverson was sent to Denver during the ‘06-’07 season, but has often deferred to other teammates like Andre Miller and Elton Brand when it came to being that vocal leader that every team needs. Iguodala has also been deemed one of the best individual defenders in the entire league, yet has not yet garnered an All NBA Defensive Team nod. He has never averaged 20 ppg and has never played in an All Star Game, yet many consider A.I. 2 a Top 20 player. He has a number of deficiencies like most namely outside shooting(career .321 3PT %) and FT %, where he has hit on 80% or higher only once in 6 seasons.
With that being said, Iggy is every bit as athletic as Lebron and Dwyane Wade, and has been known to fill up the stat sheet. His career averages of 15.9 ppg, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.8 steals are phenominal, but hardly make him a #1 option. In my opinion, Andre is better suited as a 2nd or 3rd option, where he can score more efficiently and focus on being the lock-down defender that he is capable of becoming.
Which is why the proposed trade that would send Andre Iguodala to the Chicago Bulls makes a whole lot of sense, at least from Chicago’s point of view. The Sixers would receive back Luol Deng as well as a future #1 draft pick. I’m not sure even if the salaries would match up, especially since Deng makes slightly less than Iggy, after he signed an $80 million deal last season, but pairing Andre with #1 and #2 options like Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer just seems to make sense. The move would conceivably make the Bulls a title contender, or at least a Top 4 squad in the East along with Miami, Boston, and Orlando. Another interesting twist is that Iggy has the same agent as current Bull Carlos Boozer.
On the flip side, if the Sixers are to trade Iguodala, who ranks as one of the Sixers top players of the past decade, in favor of supplanting him with Turner in the starting line-up, they will be further delaying their push to returning to respectability. As currently constructed, the Sixers have very little wiggle room under the cap after being hamstrung by the bloated contract of the under-achieving Elton Brand, who still has another 3 years left on his deal. A shake-up may be what the team needs to free up some cash and pick-up another decent draft pick. Evan Turner has been showing some signs of being able to pick up the NBA game with a decent debut and currently has season numbers of 8.3 ppg, 5.3 rebs, and 3.3 ast, but projects well as a Brandon Roy type superstar in the making. They do have a decent, very young core of players all under age 25 with the likes of Jrue Holiday, Mareese Speights, Lou Williams, Thad Young, and Turner. Adding a proven scorer like Deng may be beneficial in the long run.
Whether it’s truth or just fiction, it looks like both teams would benefit from a deal. Have an opinion? Leave a comment and let us know what you think of the proposed trade.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
