Will the Sixers trade Iguodala?
Although they were on the floor together for much of the end of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, it appears hard for Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner to coexist on the floor for a significant amount of minutes.
Will the Sixers trade Iguodala?
Bob Cooney
This is one of the most frequently asked questions, so we figured we would take some elements of it here.
Although they were on the floor together for much of the end of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, it appears hard for Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner to coexist on the floor for a significant amount of minutes.
Therefore, you would expect to see Iguodala to be dealt during this offseason. But, the Sixers are so hard to play against because of their defense, and that all starts with Iguodala, so you wonder if Doug Collins wants to give up on that. The Sixers were at or near the top of the league defensively all season.
The latest rumblings comes from ESPN.com's Chris Broussard who reports the Sixers are "looking to move" Iguodala. The Warriors again have been mentioned as a possible destination in a report from the Contra Costa Times this week, and Broussard mentions the possibility of a deal with Memphis for Rudy Gay, another trade that was mentioned last year.
After a strong showing in the playoffs, Iguodala’s status might never be higher. For his part, Iguodala says he will prepare to return to the Sixers -- a better answer than he providing at the end of the playoffs last season. He has been through the trade rumors before and says he knows how it works.
But with two aching knees and a bothersome Achilles’, you have to wonder how much is left in him. He also potentially has an exhausting summer ahead of him. Iguodala is among the players who have been invited to training camp with the U.S. National Team for a spot on the Olympic team. The team begins camp during the first week in July in Las Vegas. After a weeklong camp, Team USA will take part in some exhibition games before the Olympics begin.
Right now, I would say, 60-40 he stays.
If the sixers don't trade Iggy, they're dumber than we all thought.
@philsix6: about Iggy's all star quality - all star don't miss free throws in the MIDDLE of the game on a consistent basis, and have about 8 turn overs a night. Everyone talks about Iggy's D: i remember a game when all he had to do was stop 6-foot Chris Paul in the half court for one play for the win. he couldn't do it. trade Iggs for a bag of peanuts.
ericthered1: The problem relative to Young is the fact that DC is asking him to put on weight to help him against teams with length. They would need to add a three, which frankly I assume they will need to do even if they trade Iguodala and keep Turner.— chuckw- Every Philly sports fan claims that all he wants is a guy who always plays hard, always gives 100%, makes the most of the talent he has, plays defense before offense, never attracts attention off the court and never backs down from a challenge. Yet everybody hates Iggy because that is all he has ever done since he got here.— AreaMan
- Let's not mistake activity for progress. Iverson for Andre Miller was a decent trade. But then the Sixers let Miller walk. The Sixers are still a young team. I'd like to see them stay together. Maybe Holiday develops into an All-Star. Maybe Hawes and Turner improve to the point that they are in the Top 10 at their prospective positions. Add a shooter with the #15 pick and see what happens after an off-season of hard work rather than an off-season of change and bringing someone else's unwanteds.— DeanoP44
- You're right, everyone's right: either Iggy or Turner has to go. I would greatly prefer keeping Iggy but he's also much better trade bait, both for salary cap reasons as well as value. Turner is never going to be a great player, but he will get better and he's one of the more versatile players in the league right now. Teamed with Young who plays either forward, Holliday who's just coming into his own and the shooter/scorer whom the Iggy trade would have to bring, as well as Lavoy and the post player they just about have to go for in the draft, it'd be a pretty good team, a better team . . .on paper.— aintnorep
- Some of you are laughable. Have you no shame? Reading bearsfriend, mtairy1, chuckw, JBP, cole world and a few others posts from different articles or different days and re-stating them as your own. Thanks to copy and paste you don't actually have to re-type it.— OG
- It's cool...Maybe Rod will read a post or two, and get an idea...I just hope he's not scouting Uzbekistan. — bearsfriend
- Ummmm.... this is easy. Trade Iggy. I love the guy, but:
1. his value will never higher than it is right now and when the teams needs a shooter AND a low post player, you have to trade something to get something you need in return.
2. Iggy has an opt out at the end of next season, which he'll surely use, so unless you plan on paying him another multi-year contract for $10+mil/yr... he has to go this summer.
3. Turner will be a better player than Iggy. That's not a knock on Iggy, but Turner is just a more talented player with a higher ceiling right now. Iggy has reached his ceiling. Turner still has lots of room for growth... plus he's cheaper.
4. When their are rumors out there that you can possibly get the Warriors #7 pick (Jared Sullinger?), or maybe Bynum from the Lakers, or Rudy Gay from Memphis, or even a trade with Portland for either #6 or number #11, or even Al jefferson for Iggy.... the Sixers would be insane not to do any of those deals.
I love Iggy, but this teams has multiple needs, and you can't start addressing them until you trade one of your more valued players to start filling in the holes.
— emg2 - This comment has been deleted.— alphamale
- To the PM posters:Alphamale,OG,Cole_World...keep posting, I get back to check them out at the end of my day, and it's
always either informational...or very funny!...Concerning the redundancy, it seems as if the articles of late are bologna and cheese sandwiches piled to the ceiling...I'm still waiting for the Prime Rib...This season I believe there was one 4 paragraph article on Lou's potential opt out situation (with no quotes from management) and zero mention concerning a certain athletic frontline player who was not even invited to workouts last year...— bearsfriend - Bear: remember, you are allowed one mention of Kenneth Faried each day, so no need to be reticent; in fact, you actually had Bob Cooney in his chat mention Faried in response to one of your posts. — chuckw
- Ok just a couple of ideas I'm throwing out there for discussion. I personally hate to see him go but now is the best time. Iggy and #15 for David Lee and #7.We get a pf who can score and rebound although not a great defender and at #7 we can get someone like Jeremy Lamb or one of the really good shooters in the draft. Or straight up to Atl. for Josh Smith. He's the guy Sixers should have signed when they signed Brand. He fits much better our style of play. He runs the floor, can score, rebound and blocks shots. His contract is up after next year so Atl might be ready to move him. We'd still have the #15 to use on a shooter or a center.— curtislow
- Very creative...good job...David Lee always gives effort, and Lamb has been likened to Reggie Miller (must be the skeletor body)....When Josh Smith cried for a trade before the deadline, and Hawes'Achilles was still in question along with EB's jammed thumb....I proposed Thad,Vucevic, and Nocioni's expiring contract for Josh Smith and ZaZa Pachulia...The contracts were like 98% of each other...I got harrassed, as Thad is very popular on these sites...Take away some bad threes he's taken over the years, and Josh Smith is a very special player, IMO. Interesting,and similar to Iggy, he's not that popular in his own city. — bearsfriend
- @AreaMan: If defense and athleticism and dunking with authority were all that was needed to get the most out of a player's ability, then, YES, Iguodala got the most out of his ability. I really, really beg to differ, though. Has Iguodala really improved his dribbling skills since 2004? Maybe a bit. Has he improved his passing? Well, his behind-the-back passing(which really isn't needed)has improved, but he STILL makes thoughtless, costly turnovers while passing. His shooting from long range has improved to a degree, but his midrange game is bad. ESPN analysts don't focus enough on dribbling skills, particularly the ability to MAINTAIN THE DRIBBLE IN TRAFFIC. Iverson could do it, which enabled him to be a great player at his peak. Wade has done it for years. I do like the fact that off the court, Iguodala has stayed out of trouble and is extremely well-spoken. I wish he had more respect for coaches; it didn't help here that he had guys like Iverson, Webber, and Dalembert for teammates.— 76erfn
- Although Iggy is certainly frustrating at times, as it seems some turnovers and heavy shots seem to come at inopportune times...in conjunction to the FT shooting travails, he has certainly improved his catch and shoot shot from beyond the arc (keep those feet set), as well as tremendously improving his assist to turnover ratio...His passing to cutters is exemplary. He is a tremendous "caught in midair" passer...That being said, he has not made enough improvements (mid range,post up game) to offset the depreciation in explosion that's a coming..It may sound harsh, as he has been a warrior, but the value may be maxed, so a potential move makes sense. — bearsfriend
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
