ESPN report: Hornets inquire about Iguodala
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ESPN report: Hornets inquire about Iguodala
Earlier today, we posted this bit of information about 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala: "There's been a lot of talk about including Iguodala in a trade, but as of right now, it seems the Sixers are not trying to trade Iguodala. There will need to be a change in upper management's thinking before Iguodala gets peddled because right now -- according to a source close to Iguodala -- he has been repeatedly assured that the team is not trying to trade him and does not want to trade him. Obviously, there is a difference between the Sixers trying to trade Iguodala, and a team approaching the Sixers with a great deal. There is no guard against the latter."
If you want to read that post, click here: Deep Sixer.
Earlier this afternoon, ESPN's Chris Broussard reported that the New Orleans Hornets inquired about a deal for Iguodala. The majority of the article is about New Orleans' attempts to bolster its roster, but here's the important part for Sixers fans:
"The Hornets are on the lookout for clubs that fall far short of expectations before the February trade deadline. The logic is that some of those bad or mediocre teams will be looking to dump good players with big contracts for expiring deals.
When that occurs, the Hornets hope Stojakovic's contract can help them make a splash. New Orleans is looking to trade his deal, which pays him $15.3 million this year, for a borderline All-Star type who complements Chris Paul.
The Hornets have already contacted Philadelphia about Andre Iguodala. But the Sixers, who aren't yet sure they're willing to move Iguodala, rebuffed them fairly quickly. Philadelphia's getting lots of calls about Iguodala and will have plenty of options if it decides to trade him.
New Orleans might be a viable one, with the Hornets capable of throwing in a young talent like Marcus Thornton or Marco Belinelli alongside Stojakovic.
Iguodala would seem to be a great fit alongside Paul, as long as the Hornets were able to keep some outside shooters (i.e. Belinelli)."
If you want to read Broussard's article, you can find that here: ESPN.
This piece of information seems to support the idea that the Sixers aren't yet at the point where they want to trade Iguodala, and especially not for anything less than "equal basketball value" (i.e. not expiring contracts). Last year, they were unwilling to trade for Tracy McGrady's expiring deal, and -- at least this early in the season -- the Sixers aren't that interested in Stojakovic's expiring deal, either.
Addition from pre-game here in Oklahoma City: Just finished watching Iguodala during pre-game shooting. He's definitely favoring his left foot (he has tendinitis in his right Achilles). You can check out the videos from the pre-game in the Deep Sixer player below on the right, and one should be embedded in this post. At the end of the workout, there were about five guys playing alternating 1-on-1 (winner stays) with assistant coach Aaron McKie. You can see on Iguodala's offensive possessions, he's not even landing with both feet, he's landing exclusively on his left foot. He also has a slight limp when walking.
About 30 minutes ago, Iguodala said he's aiming to play on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks, but that he's "trying to see if he can move," and that the injury isn't allowing him to move as quickly as usual. Iguodala said he "probably will" play against the Mavericks.
Also of note: When Iguodala returns, Doug Collins seemed to be considering (at some point) a starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, and Andre Iguodala. Collins said, "It could, it could," when asked if mention of him liking the Holiday/Turner combo might mean we'll see a starting lineup including those three.
Sixers play at the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Game tips off at 8 p.m. EST.
--Kate
Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
*** New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats— Ethan Hirsch
Glenn Rice, Larry Johnson, and Iggy would totally tear up the blue area inside the three-point line at the Hive!— Leegles- please trade him! we are stuck in a quagmire until he is gone— main liner
I would like to know what they were offering. Just Peja isn't enough I want a pick out of the deal.- I like Iguodala, he dunks, he defends and has an all-around game with the exception of shooting of any kind (his FT % in the clutch has to be awful at best) but let's face it, we aren't gonna win anything with him....ever. His contract is bloated and this is another chance to get out from under it. We aren't going to win it all this year, but we can free up salary cap space and maybe get a player or two in return to help with the rebuilding process. We basically need to go with the youth movement on this team. See what we got in Evan and Jrue and we should get final opinions on guys like Young, Speights and Hawes to decide to either keep or trade them.
I'd like to see if what we have in Jrue and Evan was a fluke vs a Knicks team that frankly won't go down as the all-time best defensive teams ever (or in any good category). Even if we have to pile up losses we can speed up the rebuilding process by not holding onto a player that isn't beloved in Philly anyway. I could see if attendance were good and fans were demanding we keep Iguodala but frankly that isn't happening. I don't blame Iguodala for all our problems. We are a poorly constructed team with a lot of the same parts and only two of them seem to have the potential to be good-great (Evan & Jrue) and we have some nice parts such as Lou and a vastly-improved Brand and a defensive specialist in Nocioni.
Simply put we will miss Iguodala's production when/if he is gone despite all the fan demands that we trade him. Hell we even miss Dalembert's defense/rebounding/blocked shots (who'd have thought?) and Smith/Green are doing nice in New Orleans. Sometimes you don't know what you got til it's gone....— joecooler2u 
Do you have faith in Thorn and Stefanski to replace him with the expiring contract next year? I don't. Sicksers are pitiful and will be pitiful for a long time.- Okafor and Peja for Speights, Kapono, and Igoudala. Now that woould be acceptable
- Would be very surprised if they trade Iguodala for just an expiring contract unless they were able to package him with Elton. They need to sell tickets now not wait 3 years. To do that they need to bring in high level young talent, especially a big. Iguodala has the best chance of bringing that piece.— JBP
- Amazing. The sicksers should be actively and openly shopping this "superstar" around to anyone and everyone they can reach! Even if he was worth half of his money, he would do nothing but bring us to mediocrity which in turn will cause us tocontinue to be mediocre for yet a more extended time. WAKE THE F UP!!!— justacarpenter
- Did you know that in 1 game this team has as many wins as they do in 6 games with Iguodala? He is a fraud. Trade him ASAP! I am so excited to watch this game tonight because he isn't playing. He takes time away from Turner. One thing you can guarantee is he will get his one highlight dunk per game to get on ESPN for people to think he is good and not an overpaid fraud.— TradeIggyNow
- Another year more nonsense about Iguodala being tradeable. No GM is going to touch that contract. He has a reputation for stuffing stats until the 4th quarter when he fades. He is a SG who can not shoot. For the millionth time, he will not be traded because there is no real interest for him.— JonKap
- "Would be very surprised if they trade Iguodala for just an expiring contract unless they were able to package him with Elton. They need to sell tickets now not wait 3 years."
They'll probably want something more than an expiring contract but I don't know that they'll get a lot more in terms of immediate help. Keeping Ig won't sell tickets either. There is one thing that is worse than losing and that's losing with the same old players. Fans are more generous when your team is young, developing, and relatively new.
And JonKap, are you just certain then that this report about NO's interest is a lie? (I'm not so sure why NO wants to do it, though). I must confess a certain sense of amazement for people who talk like you. How does one speak with such certainty about things that are by nature probabilistic? Do you just ignore all the times in your life that you have been wrong so that those never register enough to change your thinking?
— cjbfbp 
As someone who always uses perfect word choice and never resorts to hyperbole to enhance the divine powers of his erudition, I must say I too am a tad skeptical of 'JonKap's certainty. But his basic mathematical argument that TooManyDala=UnTradeable does have a vague attractiveness about it. On the flip side, a sucker is born every minute, and the NBA didn't get this bad because all their GMs are Einsteins. I will stay tuned, because watching TooManyDala trade activity is certainly more exciting than watching TooManyDala shooting activity.— Nuutron
No rush to trade him given this seasons prospects. It's extremely important to get something worthwhile in return. Someone out there is going to see him as their missing piece. This might sound crazy but we have the leverage.- We all know where this is headed right?? When they finally come to their senses and realize that the empty numbers that he puts up does not help the team win, they will have waited too long. This is a bad franchise and bad franchises always make these bad decisions. Get under the cap as much as possible. Pray that Brand keeps playing well and maybe some contender takes a flyer on him. Get under the cap big time and you never know. Maybe 2 of these big time free agents decide that Philly is the next place for a big 3 or at least a big 2. Just being bad and getting meaningless top 10 draft picks wont' cut it in the NBA. Look at all the champs from the last 15 years. Its all absolute luck, one sided trades of big time stars by ex-gm's, and multiple big time free agents joining a team. The common theory of being bad for several years and building through the draft doesn't work in the NBA.— Sewellmatt
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
