Twitter rumor from
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski: "The Cavs have been listening intently to Sixers pitch of Andre Iguodala for several days, sources say. Unclear what Philly wants back." Thoughts after the jump.
Well, this rumor has me quite disturbed. Up to this point, the trade rumors involving Iguodala have seemed like a lot of smoke with very little fire and possibly even just rampant speculation. This is the first time I've seen an indication that the Sixers are actively shopping Iguodala. By shopping, I mean going to every team and saying, "Hey, what will you give us for our best player?"
I don't have to tell you how badly I do not want this to happen. If it does have legs, Elton Brand better be in the deal as well. If you recall, this was the "blow it up" trade I came up with a couple weeks back involving the Cavs:
Sixers send: Iguodala, Brand, Dalembert
Sixers receive: Shaq, Ilgauskus, JJ Hickson
Ilgauskus and Shaq are immediately bought out and free to return to the Cavs to bring home the championship Cleveland would basically lock up with this move. The Sixers save $6M this season in the difference of salaries going out vs. salaries coming in. Plus they save how ever much they can negotiate in the buyouts. They get Hickson on his rookie contract to see if he can contribute to the front court. They ensure themselves one of the worst two or three records this season (and probably for the foreseeable future as well), and they're then left with only $26M on the books heading into this summer's free agency.
With an unbelievable amount of luck, they could wind up landing John Wall and LeBron. Or Wall and Bosh. Or Wall and Wade. Or Wall and Amare. More likely, they'd wind up landing Favors and Joe Johnson for way too much money.
I'd hate to see the move I mentioned above, for a number of reasons, but if they're truly blowing things up, this accomplishes it in a major way. If they wind up trading Iguodala alone for draft picks and an expiring contract, we've officially become a joke of a franchise. Ditto if the move sends Iguodala out without unloading Elton Brand as well. Iguodala and Dalembert (aside from being a terrible PR move considering how Dalembert has been thrust into the spotlight and really handled himself well in the wake of the Haiti earthquake), would accomplish nothing but getting them under the luxury tax next season.
I've seen a couple of bloggers on Twitter mention that Iguodala isn't the type of guy they need because his game is similar to LeBron's. Similar in that they're both wing players and neither is a great shooter. My response to that would be to ask if Jordan and Pippen couldn't play together because they shared the same similarities? Adding Iguodala to the Cavs current lineup immediately makes them the clear favorite to win the championship. If you add in Brand and Dalembert, I think they're a mortal lock.
Anyway, if a decent-sized winning streak right now would stop these trade talks before Ed Stefanski does something silly, but also guarantee Jordan's return next season as the head coach, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it. Kind of like a Sophie's Choice situation.
The Sixers were also mentioned as a possible suitor for Amare. That deal would probably have to be centered around Iguodala, if it was to happen. Amare would be an ideal player for Jordan for reasons that should be obvious by now. All O, no D.
Game tonight at 7pm, preview will be up around 6.
Mo Williams......Fisher
Iguodala.........Kobe
Lebron...........Odom/Artest
Brand............Gasol
Sam..............Bynum
The Cavs would have more depth, but I'm not ready to hand anything to the Cavs until I see what kind of chemistry they can develop.
Well if the sixes buyout shaq and big z - the cavs have some serious big man depth
I'm just wondering aout the credibility of all these guys floating these rumors...the cavs beat writer (twitter.com/pdcavsinsider) has nothing about this - only some vague mention of amare and nothing else that's 'close'...
All the talk about the cavs move hinges on teams agreeing to buyout big z (which means cleveland should also be blackmailed into including the max 3 mil cash if you're a smart gm) - and now today there are reports that if the cavs make an 'impressive enough' move - that Lebron will sign an extension right away.
The trade deadline usually is littered with nonsense from writers on a 'normal' year and with this years whole 'free agent bonanza' it's no surprise that the rumor mill is churning at a higher more volume rate, but in the end only about 1-2% of these things are even 'real' rumors
"I'm just wondering aout the credibility of all these guys floating these rumors...the cavs beat writer (twitter.com/pdcavsinsider) has nothing about this - only some vague mention of amare and nothing else that's 'close'..."
IMO, Marc Stein and Adrian Wojnarowski have more credibility than Cavs beat writers.
Even about the cavs?
Who has more credibility about the sixers (i'm not being a smart ass) - Stein or Moore since Moore 'dismissed' the McGrady rumors earlier
Who breaks Sixers stories? I think Lynam broke Jordan's signing, if memory serves. What has she had to say about trade rumors?
She also works for comcast and thus the sixers, so I never trust her to have info like that - or at least share it :)
Moores the one who reported the source and the McGrady talks which seemed to counter the ESPN noise - I tend to listen to beat writers about their own teams...i wouldn't trust windhorst on the nets but Cavs I would
True, about working for Comcast. She probably gets the scoops before anyone, but she's not going to report on rumors from sources within the team, unless there's a reason they're being leaked. Her dad is also on the staff, which muddies the water a little more, you'd think.
Probably does
Be nice to get kate on the radio show this week and ask her what she knows - she tends to be real quiet on rumors - i wonder if she lacks sources yet?
The way Kate gashed Jordan for his coaching decisions earlier I don't think they are going to do her any favors and give her any leads / inside info of this kind. It is a shame as she a very good job and asks the hard questions and tries to get substantive answers.
A lot of the 'leaks' are to curry favor with beat writers so the team's favorable "story" on certain issues are told.
My favorite show (for four seasons) was the west wing...when Aaron Sorkin wrote it, and it's often relevant to things - there was an episode where something got out that shouldn't have - and not of any malice - but just because people 'in the know' want others to know that they ARE in the know...find the right person, give em a few drinks, a little flattery and they'll spill.
3 people can keep a secret, if two are dead (paraphrasing)...there's some one in the sixer organization who would spill on 'deep cover' or 'unnamed sources' just to have the ability to do so.
Hell, some guy at realgm (not SF1976) used to get inside information from a friend on the training staff (i figured out it was a trainer after the fact)...people who know love to share
I have a feeling this is all going to end awkwardly.
i would be so sad if iguodala left. i would understand the move if brand was with him but god damnit i dont want to be the franchise that gives its best players away because they wont be competing for a while. i am somewhat expecting something big to happen before the deadline, i just hope it wont set us back too far.
Sad thing is, first game back the Philly I doubt he'll draw a packed house of even much of a reaction one way or the other.
It'd be a full house to see LeBron, most likely.
That's a good point.
"More likely, they'd wind up landing Favors and Joe Johnson for way too much money."
So again, I'm a terrible capologist so I don't know if there's some rule that precludes you from just sitting on your cap space, but if Joe Johnson was the big get, I'd rather sit on our money and hope to get our star in future drafts, supposing we didn't get Wall. No team built around Joe Johnson will ever win a Finals, of that I'm sure. And we'd overpay and never have the money for a bigger star.
You can sit on your money - but if you factor in raises on contracts - extensions to thaddeus young (if you give him one) or a cap hold - you maybe don't have as much cap room the next season.
When the sixers signed Elton Brand (as it's been explained to me) with other contracts, and Iguodalas new deal, they wouldn't have had that cap room the next year?
That would be terrible. Most likely landing a big star would depend on getting Wall IF this happened, but Stefanski better have Brand's contract leaving town if he feels Iguodala is expendable.
The Cavs would be amazing too. Mike Brown is a very good defensive coach and can you imagine the big/small lineups they could have. If a team goes small, let Parker play 2 and slide Iguodala to the 3 and LeBron to the 4 with Sammy. No one would score on them.