Lakers Rumors: Western Conference to keep Andre Iguodala from Lakers?
By Ronald Agers
NBA teams understand that Andre’s impact goes past the box scores. So does LeBron James!
Andre Iguodala is one of the main reasons why analytics can send teams down the wrong road around playoff time. A player’s effectiveness sometimes can’t be measured in stats. Just take a look at the numbers with the Warriors, he averaged only 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.08 steals in 26.7 minutes.
Sure, Iguodala helped the Warriors advance to five-consecutive NBA Finals and was named Most Valuable Player during the 2015 NBA Finals. He only posted averages of 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.17 steals and 29.8 minutes in 104 postseason games (40 starts) with the Warriors, ranking fourth on the team’s all-time playoff games played list. The analytics crowd would have a field day. Here’s why he’s coveted.
No matter how great a player is, there is always a player out there that has their number. For LeBron James, early in his career, it was the Boston Celtics. In recent years, it has been Andre Iguodala. Indirectly, LeBron James made Iggy a ton of money after his MVP performance back in 2015.
But the teams that have their eyes on Iguodala want the locked in and focused player that he described on ESPN after winning the title back in 2017.
Stars in the past like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant always seemed to want players that weren’t afraid of them on their teams because they knew if they could stand up to them, there’s no danger of them shying away from the big moments.
Andre is not starstruck by James. He has always accepted the challenge and held his own against LeBron. Not only on the defensive end, but he has also had some success against him on the offensive end as well.
Andre Iguodala is one of the few players left in the NBA that pays attention to detail on everything LeBron James does. Then, he goes out and competes. The chess game between the NBA and the Lakers is centered around this scenario.
If the Lakers get him:
The Lakers roster will have to continue to sacrifice minutes at times during the season if they want to go deep in the playoffs. Andre Iguodala can be that example during the season the Lakers need.
He is the perfect locker room liaison that can relate and provide leadership to the guys on the end of the bench while having the respect of the superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That element that bonded the Warriors in their dynasty could start one in Los Angeles.
If a contender gets him:
They have an experienced champion that would be considered a “LeBron stopper”!