Iguodala sure to be coveted as free agent
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala meets with Silicon Valley CEOs for dinner, monitors an expansive portfolio of investments and subscribes to the Wall Street Journal.
His reputation as a budding entrepreneur extends into NBA contract negotiations, which is why few were surprised Monday when Yahoo’s NBA news site, the Vertical, reported that Iguodala plans to “seriously consider” other teams when he becomes a free agent next month. The question is whether the Warriors can afford him.
“Free agency is predictably unpredictable,” general manager Bob Myers said. “I love Andre. Hopefully we can find a way to make it work.”
Iguodala has long indicated that he hopes to finish his career with Golden State, though he is open to leaving if another franchise can offer him a better contract and a chance to win. Among the teams expected to
pursue Iguodala, who becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1, are Atlanta, Utah, Minnesota and Chicago.
Of Golden State’s 10 free agents, Iguodala is perhaps the biggest question mark. The 33-year-old swingman showed this past season, when his two-way abilities made him a Sixth Man of the Year front-runner, that he still can be an integral part of a championship team. The problem is that he may attract offers that the Warriors would have trouble matching.
According to the Vertical, Iguodala’s free-agency value this summer could be as high as $20 million annually. If Warriors forward Kevin Durant signs the maximum extension for which he is eligible this summer — which starts at roughly $35.4 million per season — the team would need to renounce its rights to Iguodala and guard Shaun Livingston to free up room under the salary cap.
Durant is more likely to delay his long-term extension and take almost $4 million less than his maximum next year, which would allow Golden State to use its Bird rights to re-sign Iguodala and Livingston, among others, for deals that more closely align with their free-agent value. Still, Iguodala would probably have to turn down more lucrative offers to return to the Warriors.
“We’ve got something special here,” Iguodala told The Chronicle in April. “You want the business side and the basketball side to come together and work out. Obviously, that would be the dream. You also have to understand that there’s a business to the game. You only get so many cracks at free agency.”
In the past six seasons, only two players have been an Eastern Conference All-Star, a gold-medal winning Olympian for the U.S. and the most valuable player of the NBA Finals: Iguodala and LeBron James. It is a pedigree that befits a future Hall of Famer like James much better than Iguodala, who hasn’t finished a season averaging double-digit points since he joined the Warriors in 2013.
More than any physical gift, what separates Iguodala from most players his age is his diligent self-preservation. Seldom does he not meet with the training staff immediately after practice. When head coach Steve Kerr asks him to rest the occasional game, Iguodala hardly argues. Acupuncture appointments are part of his monthly routine.
It is a blueprint for lateseason, and late-career, success. After Golden State lost two of its first three games in the 2015 NBA Finals to Cleveland, Kerr put Iguodala in the starting lineup. The Warriors won out as he helped hold James to 39.8 percent shooting for the series. After cementing the franchise’s first NBA title in 40 years with a 25-point eruption in Game 6, Iguodala beat out James and Stephen Curry for Finals MVP.
In Game 6 of last year’s Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, Golden State trailed by six points late when Iguodala stripped a driving Durant and hit Klay Thompson for one of Thompson’s 11 threepointers to help spark a comefrom-behind win. Two nights later in Game 7, Iguodala played a team-high 43 minutes and harassed Durant into a slew of difficult shots as the Warriors completed their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.
In Game 5 of this year’s Finals, Iguodala had 20 points, four rebounds and three assists. By Monday afternoon, as social media buzzed about his free-agency prospects, Iguodala announced that he and Curry will host “The Players Technology Summit.”
The Bloomberg-sponsored event, which will bring together leaders from venture capital, technology and pro sports, is scheduled for Aug. 14-16 in San Francisco. By that point, Iguodala may no longer be with the Warriors.
“I think I’ve built something that I can basically facilitate from anywhere,” Iguodala said of his business endeavors. “I’m really confident that, no matter where I’m at, I can still have an impact on what I want to do in the tech scene and bring other guys in the league in on it as well.” Briefly: Player-development coach Chris DeMarco will coach the Warriors’ summer league team in Las Vegas next month. Patrick McCaw, Kevon Looney and Damian Jones are expected to play for Golden State. … The Warriors, despite not currently having a draft pick, will host six players for their final pre-draft workout Tuesday: Nebraska guard Tai Webster, SMU forward Ben Moore and guard Sterling Brown, Arizona center Chance Comanche, Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig and Florida guard Canyon Barry, the son of Warriors great Rick Barry.