I wrote it as clear as you heard: Bethlehem Shoals is sick of rumors. I wouldn't refer to myself in the third-person unless I really wanted to call attention to my own folly. So there's your disclaimer on this: I LIE.
However, the future of Andre Iguodala is about more than who goes where and for what. Comparing Andre Iguodala to Lamar Odom is misleading; besides being a more unique player, Odom is at once spacier and in theory, more likely to serve as a nervous center of a team. A weird one, indeed, but wasn't that the premise behind that rad Odom/Dwayne Wade/Caron Butler Heat team? Why does Shaquille O'Neal ruin all the interesting teams?
As we've seen from Odom's post-Heat career, though, he's either most comfortable, or at least has no problem with, taking a secondary role. In fact, with the Lakers, Odom's nearly an afterthought.
Iguodala has much to recommend him: stellar defense, great feel for the game, strong passing and rebounding, world-class athleticism, superb slashing, and the willingness to develop his outside shot. And yet Iggy, like Odom, might be about to surrender his place on pedestal.
You have to blame this as much on the Sixers as Iguodala. By not seeing a player for who he is, Philly set themselves up for disappointment and put Iguodala in a perpetually awkward position.
Back when the Sixers drafted Iguodala, there were concerns that he wasn't assertive enough. Then that was all blamed on Allen Iverson, who was supposedly holding AI2 back. He got a sizable extension based not on his potential to produce, but to realize he was the most important player on the team. Andre Miller was the engine behind that team's resurgence, yet Iguodala was still thought to be the main piece. The signing of Elton Brand could have given Iguodala the cushion he needed to carry the team without going against his personality. But Brand's been a disappointment, and now the roster is crowded with guys like Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young who, while not nearly Iguodala's equal, can play a similar role for this middling team.
If the rumor gods died today, Iguodala would be looking at possible destinations of either Cleveland or Houston, both of which mark the end of his long, torturous superstar audition, albeit in different ways.
To some extent, saying Iguodala can't be top dawg on the Cavaliers is a non-statement. No one is as good as LeBron James; were to ever see a James/Dwyane Wade combo, Wade would have the ball in his hands more, but only because James saw it was the best course of action. Yet the Cavs wouldn't be adding Iguodala in a vacuum, which is part of why they're an elite team in this league. This team has a pretty well-developed flow to it, albeit one that's sometimes glitched up by injuries, and at very least there's Mo Williams, and the threat of Shaq, as highly strategic secondary options.
While Iguodala can create his own shot and do crazy things in the lane, with Cleveland he'd be expected to fit into a program. When a team's other big target is supposedly Antawn Jamison, the poster child for low-key, malleable output, you know they're not going after Iguodala for his shock and awe factor alone.
The Houston Rockets, another team said to covet Iguodala, have an agenda of their own in mind. The team misses Tracy McGrady -- or at least the healthy T-Mac that did more than take bad shots and go to the lane with a limp. The first hints we got of what a wholly original Daryl Morey/Rick Adelman Rockets might look like came in 2007, when the team continued its win streak even after Yao went down. McGrady both provided scoring punch and stay involved in the flow of the offense. Imagine Iguodala -- younger, even more willing to share the ball, and without a bit of gunner in him -- in that slot. If that balanced team wants something resembling a focal point on the perimeter, and Iguodala doesn't want to be the man in a traditional sense, this could be a near-ideal match.
It's worth noting, too, that Iguodala in Houston would allow the haywire Trevor Ariza to go back to the role that made him famous, pairing with Shane Battier to make a case for both versatility and redundancy as key to forward-thinking basketball.
Again, I raise these possibilities not because I like to bet on what may be, but because Andre Iguodala is at a crucial juncture in his career. He's been pigeonholed, due to certain facets of his game, context, and the contract he signed (can you blame him for that?), as your typical athletic swingman. However, if he accepts a demotion of sorts -- one he himself might be willing to -- we'll get to see that Andre Iguodala is in fact a far more complex, and valuable, player. In this case, we're being kept from realizing that Iguodala offers more because he's being typecast as a false superstar. One step back, two forward.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
He would be a great addition to our team
- Goran
amen.
iggy gets no respect. he should be all-defensive team no questions (i'll take him over artest any day). on offense he is no lebron, but he is seamless (love the odom comparison). the legions who say he is overpaid are people who don't make the effort to watch pathetic teams or narrowly evaluate stars with ppg as the holy beacon. ex. if u ran a poll, nearly everyone would say they would want joe johnson over iggy....to me its a no brainer the other way. is it a coincidence morey wants him? ...would love to see their numbers on him.
can't wait till he is out of philly and he gets the cred he deserves. whatever team he goes to will make an instant leap...which really says a lot. personally, i want to see him go to the celts for ray allen. rondo and him would make megavolts of freakenstein backcourt electricity that would officially end traditional boxscores and positions. has a backcourt ever led a team in rebounding and steals, been on the all-defensive team, averaged 40ppg, distributed the ball, ran the break like ballet and thunder, made anyone outside of new england or a larry legend fan not hate the celtics, all the while laughing at the whole notion of the jump shot (in the backcourt no less....pssshaaawwww). It would send european basketball back to the dark ages and start the asian invasion in one single stroke. north is south. east is west. up is down. make the deal danny, MAKE THE DEAL !!!!!
and please shoals. say iggy is going to be featured in the next book? the man is the ultimate freedarkoian.
BTW: the commenting system on here sucks worse than the baseline. it doesn't work well and i don't not be sucked into AOLs marketing databases. free the comments, man, free the comments.
This guy goes out and stuffs a stat sheet everynight and does not receive any recognition for it. Honestly, it makes me sad. Because I'm such a big fan of Iguodala's, I may be biased, but I believe this guy deserves a lot more. And since I am a Sixers fan, its upsetting to think about him no longer being in a Philadelphia uniform, but it may be best to send him off so he can further his NBA career.
Iguodala makes a great Robin, he's not Batman. The 76ers screwed up overpaying him. Can't blame Iguodala for taking the cash. Now they're stuck with bad contracts ( Iguodala, Brand & Dalembert). Iguodala's the only one they can possibly jettison. The best scenario for them is Iggy to Houston for T-Mac. They get the expiring contract and maybe something from McGrady. They won't get a top flight free agent to come to Philly so they should look overseas for a shooting guard with some size and hope the young players they have develop. If they don't, the GM should be fired because he's the one who put the team together.
I don't really think Iggy is overpaid at all and he's young enough to play out the length of his contract.Dalembert is overpaid,but he's only got 1 more year left.I think the only way the Sixers deal Iggy is if somebody is dumb enough to take Brands putrid contract with him,but I don't see it happening.
So much speculation and bla-bla-bla. Clearly Shoals has way too much time on his hands and really nothing to say. Instead of b.s.ing about stuff of which he knows next to nothing, he should dedicate himself to selling used cars or something more befitting his lack of talent.
I don't think the comments system sucks.
I do agree with the author here, Iguodala would blossom in a more stable team with its own stars, Philly's just not for him anymore...but has it ever been?
Shoals are you an NBA blogger for fanhouse ??
really ? one thing you are not , there.
ai/2 is playing out of position ,the sixers have him playing the 2 ,and he can't shoot, he makes you think he can handle, but that is only side to side when no one is on him, he will not go to the hoop except on fast breaks, he jumps out of the gym but when in a post up spot on the floor instead of taking two hard dribbles and go the hoop and get fouled perhaps get some rhtyum to let his shot flow on the foul line, he shooting fade shots like he is 37 yrs old and misses. His shooting percentage is horrible when he is not dunking the ball on fast breaks,and to top it off the sixers do not have many shooters(outside),and they play thaddeous young at the same time and he goes to the hoop gets fouls on oppossing players and goes to the free flow line. I feel if he had a outside shot he be worth keeping but on this team we need to start over and get in the lottery and quit giving game winning shots to someone who can't hit the side of a barn to win a game.let someone else who sits on the bench. trade him
The Sixers are a festering corpse of a franchise...disgusting.
The Sixers are a festering corpse of a franchise.
Brand was a great signing.....Sixers always on the cheap...never will they sign a big free agent. Everyone should boycott their games.
The Sixers are an embarrasment to Philadelphia.
you mean philadelphia has a sports team called the 76'ers, what do they play woman's sincronized swimming ?