Thread: Andre Iguodala
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Old 01-15-2010, 05:21 PM   #34
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NBA At 2: Mavs, Sixers Trade Talk

By: Bill Ingram Last Updated: 1/15/10 1:11 PM ET | 3685 times read
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Let's play connect the dots for a moment.

Last week we heard from a number of sources that the Philadelphia 76ers had offered the Houston Rockets a package of Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala for the expiring contract of Tracy McGrady. The Rockets weren't interested, partially because of the fact that Iguodala has a huge long-term contract that Houston didn't want to commit themselves to.

Trading Iguodala and Dalembert amounts to a salary dump for the Sixers, who would stand to gain a $27 million reduction in player expense next summer if such a deal were to go down. They would then have roughly $16 million in cap space to spend on a top free agent next summer depending on where the cap falls, and with guys like Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights and a ton of young and improving talent in place, someone like Rudy Gay might give the Sixers serious consideration . . .certainly ahead of the hapless New York Knicks. Moving Iguodala and Dalembert as a package for expiring contracts make a great deal of sense for the Sixers, so why not continue to offer that deal around? In fact, why not make another call to Texas?

The Dallas Mavericks are a team in need. They need better production at the center position and they need a legitimate second star to play alongside Dirk Nowitzki. They also have an owner who cares more about winning than paying the luxury tax or committing to long-term deals. Frankly, Andre Iguodala is precisely the kind of player they need. He'd be the first star shooting guard on the team since Michael Finley left, and he would give them size and speed on the wing with Shawn Marion. The Mavericks also happen to have a pair of contracts to offer that could come off the books this summer, just as McGrady's would have.

Erick Dampier has another year left on his contract, but in order for next season to kick in he has to meet some incentives. One of those incentives is that he must play 28 minutes per game, something that is extremely unlikely. He hasn't averaged 28 minutes per game since he played for the Golden State Warriors in 2003-04 and is only at 26.6 for the 2009-10 season. You can bet the Mavs aren't going to allow him to get to 28, meaning his contract expires next summer. In addition, Josh Howard has a team option year for next season, meaning his contract can expire, as well, if the team doesn't choose to extend him. Granted, Josh is coming off ankle surgery, but he's also having a miserable season, one that won't inspire the Mavs to jump on an option that would pay him close to $12 million next season.

Andre Iguodala would be the legitimate second option behind Nowitzki, and would give the Mavs another player who can get to the rim at will and who is effective in the half-court set. If you've seen the Mavs in the half-court set lately, you understand why they're struggling. They brought in Shawn Marion, but aren't running the kind of offense where he can flourish. Adding Iguodala would give Dallas that premier scoring threat at the two and a strong defensive presence on the opposite end. He might just make them the contenders they so desperately want to be. And that's before we talk about upgrading the center position for the next two seasons with Dalembert.

Dalembert isn't a radical upgrade over Dampier, but he is an upgrade, nonetheless, at roughly same price. First of all, he can hit a free throw . . that alone makes him worth the swap. He is as good a scorer, a better rebounder, and better shot-blocker. Frankly, with Jason Kidd feeding him, he'd probably be more effective on the offensive end, as well.

Iguodala represents a huge financial investment, but we all know Mark Cuban isn't shy about that. If it means getting the Mavericks one step closer to the championship, Cuban will write the check. If the Sixers are serious about finding cap space for next summer, they're on the right track in talking to Texas . . .they just need to make a call that reaches the northern part of the state.

Billups Looking For Consistency

When the curtain went down on the Western Conference Finals last season the Denver Nuggets were beaten, but the future looked bright. Sure, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, who went on to win the championship, but they fought hard and they brought their core group back this season to try and take things all the way. Most pundits picked them as one of the few (well, two) teams who might actually challenge the Lakers for Western Conference supremacy, but so far they've been anything but dominant. The biggest factor in the Nuggets' rise to the ranks of the contenders was the arrival of Chauncey Billups, who recently told 104.3 The Fan in Denver that his team lacks the consistency they had last season.

"I think right now we are an inconsistent team. Especially on the road, we're very inconsistent. Those are things that are gonna have to change and gonna have to change fast if we want to have the kind of season and postseason that we had last year. It's a lot of our guys' first time having that target on them. Last year we were able to catch everybody by surprise, go into different buildings and surprise them, this year we're everybody's big game. I talked about that at the start of the season but guys didn't understand it or understand what I meant by that. Now it's safe to say that they know what I mean by that. It's a different way you've gotta play and a different commitment that you gotta have. It takes some adjusting to. Some teams do it, some teams don't. Right now we haven't been that great at it but we still have an opportunity. We're still right there with all the other teams and we can still take that next step."

Injuries have played a role, of course, with both Billups and Carmelo Anthony missing stretches of games. On the positive side, though, Billups' absence has allowed Ty Lawson to get more minutes. Billups says he knew in preseason that Lawson was ready to play at the NBA level.

"I knew it early. I knew it early in the preseason. He has a gear that nobody else on the team has, and really there are not very many players in the league that have the gear that he has. When you have the ability to do that and you can play with the poise that he has, it's a difference-maker. I think that when guys are out there playing with him they should be trying to get down the court as fast as possible because he's going to get the ball and push it. He's a pass first point guard and he's always looking to make the right play. I knew very early on with his demeanor and his willingness to study the game and listen and pay attention to small details that he was going to be an asset to us."

Billups has also had a noticeable impact on J.R. Smith, who was somewhat of a loose cannon, often in George Karl's dog house, prior to Billups' arrival, but last season emerged as somewhat of a leader on the team.

"I tell J.R. all the time, just don't settle," says Billups. "He's such a great shooter and shot maker that he can make bad shots. But he's streaky as well. As a streaky shooter, you gotta know when you're on and when you're not. He has the ability to attack and get into the lane and make plays for others. I don't think he uses it as much as he probably should or could. I'm trying to get him to recognize when you're not on, you can still have an effect on the game. A lot of players that are great shooters, when they're not shooting well they're like alright not tonight. I just didn't have it. I'm trying to get J.R. to believe that OK, you might not be shooting well tonight, but you can get into the lane, people can't stop you, you're big, you're strong, you can get Nene some dunks, you can get Bird (Chris Anderson) a lob, you can get Aaron (Afflalo) some kick outs. You gotta be able to expand your game like that."

Finally, Billups talked about the importance of having home court advantage in the playoffs.

"As we saw last season during our run, the biggest thing that we had going was our building was incredible, home court was incredible for us. We didn't lose a series until we didn't have home court. We went up there and we stole home court back, but when we have our home court, you see how we play at home. Sometimes it's disappointing that everybody doesn't understand the importance of a Minnesota Timberwolves game, or a Sacramento Kings game or a Memphis Grizzlies game or a Clippers game, when they were struggling. They don't know the importance of those games and they just feel like we can win them in the fourth quarter. That fourth quarter, the other team has confidence and now it's a dogfight."

It's been a dogfight for the Nuggets, but the good news is they're healthy now and only half a game behind the Mavericks for the second seed in the West. If they can stay healthy and put together a second-half run, they can have that all-important second seed, and put off a potential meeting with the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14994

Wouldn't be a bad trade
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