MVN - Most Valuable Network

Internet eyes on Iguodala: Obstacles of opinion

Two writers who I admire recently wrote articles on Andre Iguodala that greatly disappointed me. I really wish I didn’t read these pieces from Ball Don’t Lie’s Kelly Dwyer and NBA Fanhouse’s Matt Moore (of Hardwood Paroxysm fame). I generally consider both Dwyer and Moore to be better writers than me and they deserve all the respect they can get. However, in their articles explaining why they both think that Andre Iguodala isn’t worth his asking price, their reasonings ended up contradicting each other and exposed flawed perspectives on Iguodala’s position.

I realize that my opinion is biased somewhat by an emotional attachment to Iguodala over seeing him represent my team over the past four years. If you’re not a fan of his game, I can understand that. He still has a lot to prove and improve upon.

Still, what I can’t understand is why people are passing judgment on Iguodala based on his past production at the position he is turning over to Thaddeus Young. Also, comparing him to players who are four years older and either at their primes or just past them doesn’t make much sense.

What follows are explanations of the reasons not to pay Iguodala his asking price instead of considerations of why he might be deserving of that price. Is this what happens when bloggers become beatwriters? We need to consider both sides.

First of all, there’s the matter of his position. Dwyer rightfully waffles on this, but settles on “forward” instead of guard/forward or guard. With the addition of Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young will play his more natural small forward position and Iguodala will be asked to play the two guard much more, likely as the starter.

While this would figure to be a deterrent with Iguodala’s struggles as a shooter, it would actually play more to his strengths and give him more of an advantage. If Rip Hamilton or Chauncey Billups were forced to guard Iguodala instead of having the lengthy Tayshaun Prince up in his grill, there’s no doubt he’d have an easier time of it. Having Thaddeus Young at the 3, the Sixers are hoping he develops into the player Prince is. That would provide Iguodala the support he needed to take advantage as a guard with his size.

Going back to his struggles as a shooter, Moore referred to him as a shoot-first tweener, while Dwyer stated that the issue was creating shots. How do you pull a shoot-first trigger if you can’t create the shot? You can’t have that both ways.

I have to lean more with Dwyer on this one. Perhaps Moore got confused with the AI initials and was referring to the former franchise player for the Sixers. Iguodala took 15.57 shots per game during the regular season. In the playoffs, that figure dropped to 11.33. That’s hardly trigger happy for a guy who played 39 minutes a game.

As for Moore’s claim of being turnover prone, Iguodala did give up 4.33 turnovers a game during the Pistons series. However, during the regular season, his number dipped from 3.43 in 2006-’07 to 2.61 in 2007-’08. He helped to negate his turnovers by placing sixth in the league in steals per game at 2.08.

The claim from Dwyer about Iguodala being a lot more like Corey Maggette than Paul Pierce is pretty accurate. If this is to establish the basis for Iguodala’s value with the five year, $50 million dollar contract that Maggette signed with the Warriors this summer, then that should be considered a bare minimum. The reason is that Maggette is four years older and has already reached his peak.

Iguodala, on the other hand, has improved every season. He’s shown a strong work ethic, done everything the team’s asked of him, and exuded the leadership abilities to lead the Sixers back to the playoffs for the first time since Allen Iverson ruled the city.

Unlike Maggette, Iguodala has a track record of being durable. He’s only missed six games throughout his four year career. By comparison, Maggette missed 57 games through the first four years of his career.

I’m not saying that Maggette is lacking the intangibles, but what I am saying is that Iguodala is not lacking in maturity, even for a 24 year old. The next five years should include his best basketball of his career. All he has to do is make one all-star team and the investment is worth it.

As far as the argument from Moore that you can’t pay Iguodala his asking price as the second banana to Elton Brand, we’ve already established that he really isn’t a shoot-first, high-turnover type of player. In fact, how many second bananas earn eight figures? Thanks to Hoopshype, you can find out for yourself. Just to name a few who earn over $15 million, both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudemire, Pau Gasol, Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki (who makes less than Jason Kidd) all fall in the upper echelon of their team’s second highest salaries. Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James are all second on their teams to Jermaine O’Neal, Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson and Ben Wallace - falling in the $14 million dollar range. Luol Deng’s new deal is second to Larry Hughes for the Bulls. Richard Jefferson earns $13.2 million, $14.2 million and $15 million over the next three years as the Bucks second highest salary.

What about the lack of ability to create shots? This was a team-wide problem for the Sixers. Elton Brand figures to alleviate some of the burden as the low post presence they lacked. Andre Miller was actually the best low post option when he could exploit his man on the block. Andre Iguodala would also be a post option with smaller guards defending him instead of bigger forwards.

Without somebody in the middle to draw the defense this past season, the perimeter defenders played tightly on their man with help defense coming from the interior weakside. Iguodala was facing constant double teams and traps when inside the three point line. Outside the line, teams were content to give him that shot more often than not. He’s not a three point shooter and is still working to develop some consistency on his range to keep the defenses from sagging too much.

I have to give Dwyer credit for at least purposing to find an alternative. Josh Howard is not a bad choice, despite concerns about his character. However, you have to remember that Thaddeus Young is being groomed to be the next Tayshaun Prince, so finding a replacement for Iguodala would require somebody who could play extensive minutes at the 2. Howard can play some minutes, but he’s more of a natural small forward than a tweener. Plus, he too is four years older.

The Sixers shouldn’t try to become the Clippers East. Iguodala has them on the right path if they stay the course. They have a nice mix of veterans (Miller, Brand, Dalembert) and youth (Young, Williams, Speights, Jason Smith, Iguodala). Iguodala was the man that held it all together last year.

In conclusion, Andre Iguodala deserves to be rewarded fair market value. Rather than try to cheapen his price, an honest assessment of his value should be sought. I realize that there’s probably a happy medium between Dwyer, Moore and my opinions. I just wish they would have talked to me first before proposing an ill-advised trade or no solution at all. Moore’s conclusion put the ball in Ed Stefanski’s court and rightfully so. No matter how you feel about Iguodala, ultimately it’s the Sixers call.

BONUS: Sixersoul thinks Kelly Dwyer is crazy.

UPDATE: Matt Moore responds at Hardwood Paroxysm.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Richard Jefferson, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Shawn Marion, Yao Ming, Jason Kidd, Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Thaddeus Young, Jermaine O'Neal, Hardwood Paroxysm, Ball Don't Lie, Matt Moore, NBA Fanhouse, Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Dwayne Wade, Josh Howard, Corey Maggette, Allen Iverson, Ben Wallace, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Amare Stoudemire, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, Pau Gasol, Carmelo Anthony, Elton Brand, Phoenix Suns, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Chicago Bulls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.