The uncertain status of veteran Andre Iguodala is a situation that remains unresolved until he’s either traded or bought out of his contract by the Memphis Grizzlies.
One new report indicates that if a buyout does take place, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are frontrunners to obtain his services.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated on his podcast that Memphis could conceivably trade Iguodala, though it also has the option to buy out a contract that will pay him $17.185 million for the 2019-20 season.
“It’s the two LA teams. It’s the Lakers and it’s the Clippers,” said Wojnarowski. “If there is a buyout at some point and if Memphis can’t trade him, that’s where that will come down to those two teams.
“Iguodala’s fine with seeing what the landscape looks like and then jumping in on the season a little later [during the season].”
Iguodala ended up in Memphis after he was traded in June by the Golden State Warriors in order to help their salary cap situation. The 35-year-old veteran had played the past six seasons with Golden State and was a part of three NBA title teams and five consecutive Western Conference championships.
Last month, Iguodala came to an agreement with the Grizzlies that he would not report to their training camp, and the team would seek a trading partner for his services. That would help avoid the awkward situation of the team having a player who has no interest in playing for a rebuilding team.
The recent success enjoyed by Iguodala, which included winning the NBA Finals MVP award in 2015, is why he’s likely to end up with one of the Staples Center tenants. The Lakers are looking to make some major noise during the postseason, while the Clippers have been mentioned as favorites to win an NBA title.
Lakers forward LeBron James is quite familiar with what Iguodala can bring to a team. That’s because he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers team that faced Iguodala’s Warriors in the finals for four consecutive years. On only one of those occasions were James’ Cavaliers able to defeat the Warriors.
