Lakers Rumors: Western Conference to keep Andre Iguodala from Lakers?

There are Los Angeles Lakers rumors that Western Conference teams could try to block the Rob Pelinka/Andre Iguodala reunion. Could it be done? Who are the teams? Lake Show Life investigates!

Los Angeles Lakers rumors have been relatively quiet recently. As of this writing, the Los Angeles Lakers sit at the top of the NBA world with the best record of 11-2 after defeating the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night. After that win, the Lakers are sitting on a four-game winning streak and completely put the opening night LA Clippers debacle in the past.

Only one thing, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t satisfied. They want more. That more is a player whose rights belong to the Memphis Grizzlies, but his heart is few hours south of San Francisco. That player is Andre Iguodala, the player believed to be the “X-factor” to many teams around the time the postseason gears up.

While he waits at home waiting for Memphis to either find him a new home via a trade or a buyout, he is resting his body from those five seasons of marathon runs with the Warriors. An energized Iguodala could swing the balance of power in a wide-open NBA where a good number of teams are above .500. Plus with surprising teams floundering like Brooklyn and Portland, that number of contenders could increase.

The mission statement of the Lakers’ front office led by Rob Pelinka was clear when they finally landed Anthony Davis to team with LeBron James. Fill the roster with veteran shooters and defenders and do it as cheap as possible.

The Lakers are banking on Iguodala wanting to stay in California and Rob Pelinka’s ability to close the deal considering that he was Iguodala’s former agent.

At the time that Iguodala dropped this shot in the NBA Finals last year, no one in the NBA thought that a player like Iguodala, who is a 3-time NBA champion, a 2015 Finals MVP based on his performance slowing down LeBron James and a guy that is capable of knocking down huge shots in big moments, would be available.

https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1135377203292545025

The one thing Andre Iguodala brings to this franchise is professionalism and credibility that commands respect. Plus, he’s not afraid to shoot the ball in crunch time. This happened only months ago.

With all rumors and reports points to the Los Angeles Lakers as Iggy’s destination, which would make so much sense for veteran forward. What gives?

The Memphis Grizzlies have a strange way of dealing with Iguodala according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. 

"Memphis plans to wait on a buyout with Iguodala until February’s trade deadline. The Grizzlies are still holding out hope that a trade can be worked out and have been holding firm on their asking price of a first-round pick. If not, Iguodala will be cut loose from Memphis and free to sign with whomever he chooses—around the league, that’s expected to be the Lakers."

Let’s take at the red flags of this quote. The first red flag is that Memphis actually believes that any GM in the NBA that wants to keep his job will give up a first-round pick for an aging player that makes over $17 million for this season.

The second red flag is that it is believed around the league that Iguodala will choose the Los Angeles Lakers. Okay, so?

The Memphis brass knows that other Western Conference contenders would love to acquire Iguodala for two reasons. One, to keep him away from a LeBron-led Lakers team and two, be able to use him to stop him like he did with the Warriors back in 2015.

One anonymous NBA exec breaks it down to Heavy.com.

"“He’s got more value in the West,” said the GM. “I can’t see a team in the East moving for him. He has the experience guarding LeBron and that’s what you want out of him. That and you want to keep him off the Lakers, you want their bench to be a weak spot. He doesn’t have those same kinds of good matchups in the East. You don’t want to put him on Giannis (Antetokounmpo) in a seven-game series, for sure.”"

A few NBA teams believe they can get lightning in a bottle the Warriors caught in 2015. When Steve Kerr convinced him to take the sixth man role when the Warriors started their dynasty. Then in the NBA Finals, Iguodala was ready when he was inserted into the starting lineup.

Can it actually happen? Let’s see what’s going on with various teams in the Western Conference that could affect the Lakers.

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”!

Multiple media outlets have Andre Iguodala as a foregone conclusion to choose the Lakers. Didn’t they say the same thing about Paul George?

There are so many rumors from numerous outlets that the Lakers and Andre Iguodala partnership can and most likely will happen. Until Memphis buys him out which will not happen until after the trade deadline, anything can happen, right? Remember the Paul George fiasco?

When Paul George started angling his way out of Indiana, it was a foregone conclusion where he was supposed to end up. An LA kid “allegedly” being a Lakers fan growing up, the media had the narrative sewn up. Here’s an example from Sam Amick of USA Today Sports.

"“Rival executives will argue that his value is depressed because of the alive-and-well rumor he is headed for the Lakers, knowing full well that the Thunder don’t want to lose a superstar for the second time in three summers after Kevin Durant. The lack of leverage, if nothing else,could compel the Thunder to see this through until the summertime.”"

An ESPN documentary, a guest spot on Jimmy Kimmel, what could go wrong?

The Thunder’s front office ignored the noise and made a deal. The Lakers believed the hype and let things slide and lost their chance at Paul George. Two years later, he finds his way out west where he wanted to be with the Clippers.

A few years later, here we go again.

The Athletic’s David Aldridge. 

"“The notion that Iggy to the Forum Blue and Gold seems to be so universally held a belief could certainly impact how hard other teams engage the Grizzlies in potential trade talks.”"

This is nowhere near a shot at these professional insiders here. Amick was right then and Shelburne along with Aldridge is right now at this point. What is being expressed here is there’s more to basketball than what happens on the basketball court. This situation has the eyes of other teams in the Western Conference.

Let’s take a look.

Memphis wants picks. It seems Dallas, Portland and Denver have what the Grizz really needs.

The Los Angeles Lakers only can get Andre Iguodala if he gets bought out. The game is over. They simply have no assets. There are contenders out there that know it and those contenders have what the Lakers don’t. A first-round draft pick plus contracts to line up the trade.

Let’s relive the Lakers quandary here.

The problem lies in the fact that they can’t match the money to trade with Memphis for players that they would want. Lake Show Life released the only two players under contract that ANY team would want on the roster. The asking price of a first-rounder for Iguodala makes the Lakers a non-factor via trade.

They owe first-round picks to New Orleans in 2021 and 2024 as the price for getting Anthony Davis this offseason. In short, it means they can’t trade picks between those years, or in 2025 because of the NBA’s “Stepien Rule.” It was laid out in detail by Pelicans’ insider David Grubb early in the negotiations.

The Lakers also owe their second-rounders for the next three drafts to other teams. There’s just not a trade package that would make Memphis pick up the phone without acting like former Pelicans GM Dell Demps.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Denver Nuggets have the ammunition to make a trade for Iggy. It makes sense considering he played for the franchise in the past.

"The Nuggets have six free agents next summer, and Jamal Murray‘s max contract coming on the books. Not only are they in win-now mode but they might not be able to retain all those players, and it could give them incentive and options to use in a deal — namely young prospects such as Malik Beasley or Juan Hernangomez, who are headed for restricted free agency."

With Memphis going into rebuild mode, the Grizzlies could use Iguodala’s contract and flip it for multiple players aligning the salaries. Would the Denver Nuggets give up the first-round pick? That’s debatable, but the Nuggets and Memphis know that they both facing allowing players to walk away without compensation. There’s motivation there.

They are not alone in the race for Iguodala.

Thought it was the Houston Rockets didn’t you? They’ll try, but this team can actually land Andre.

The Houston Rockets still have Daryl Morey. They will try to swing a deal based on the fact they are winning regular season games without the ingredients to win a playoff series. The Rockets still can’t stop anyone. That alone will have Morey trying to swing a deal without Nene’s contract being an under the table deal.

The Dallas Mavericks actually has a contract that won’t raise red flags all over the NBA. The contract belongs to journeyman Courtney Lee, at $12.8 million. Unlike Nene’s contract, the Mavs can realistically get them close to matching salaries with Iguodala.

Their problem surrounds the first-round pick. Like the Lakers, they face the Stepien Rule meaning they can’t give the Grizzlies a first-rounder in upcoming drafts. The Mavs dealt away picks in 2021 and 2023 to the New York Knicks to acquire Kristaps Porzingis last February.

The Mavs may keep their picks as a backup plan for a younger player if the Iguodala scenario doesn’t work out. They’ve offered Memphis a second-rounder in the summer, which was quickly rejected.

Dallas could offer a package of Lee and wing Dorian Finney-Smith, with a second-rounder or two. The Mavs have the rights to the Warriors’ second-round pick this year, which could prove to be an intriguing asset considering that the Golden State warriors stink.

Another way the Mavs’ can swing a deal is with the trade exception they hold from the Harrison Barnes deal, worth $11.7 million. The Mavs can take on a player with a contract less than that value without giving up anything in return. Lake Show Life is not sure what Iguodala’s contract will be worth pro-rated but it is an option nonetheless.

It depends on which car you have in the race. The Los Angeles Lakers or the NBA field?

Lakers fans will have their conspiracy theories on the world is against their team. The fight for Andre Iguodala’s services will definitely bring up the debate again. He is the player that everyone will be talking about when the narrative of resting his body comes up. Think of him as a poor man’s LeBron James when that discussion comes up by NBA announcers.

Just because all fingers point to the Los Angeles Lakers doesn’t mean the fans should sit back and watch it happen. Lake Show Life has named numerous teams that could trade for Iguodala and the Lakers could be facing a similar situation as the two superstars they lost out on in the past, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Other teams that are dark horses to land Iguodala:   

Portland Trail Blazers:

In December, Portland could trade Kent Bazemore for Iguodala and unlike the other teams listed, they have first-round picks available. They also have young players that Memphis would want such as Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Gary Trent Jr. It the Blazers want to keep their picks, they can add young players to the offer. They have multiple options to offer as the Lakers had for Anthony Davis.

The Blazers showed their desperation this week when they signed Carmelo Anthony. They are losing ground in the conference waiting for Jusuf Nurkic to return from a broken leg. After Zach Collins lost the season with a shoulder injury and C.J. McCollum firing from long-range and little else, the Blazers may try anything if Melo can’t save them.

Los Angeles Clippers:

Jerry West. If you haven’t heard of him, better read about him. He pulled Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the same night. He’s always in the hunt.

Lake Show Life will follow this quest for Andre Iguodala until the deal is done. Stay tuned for updates.