Professional basketball is back – or, rather, it’s about to be back. Some of you are excited about that. Others don’t care. Either way, referees will soon toss basketballs into the air and tall men with over-stuffed wallets will jump after them.
Huzzah. Or something.
Here in Philadelphia, the Sixers have new owners , but the same old questions remain: Will Evan Turner be a significant contributor or just another average NBA player? Will Jrue Holiday improve and take another (jab) step toward becoming an elite point guard? What kind of talent does the team’s new big man, Nikola Vucevic, posses? Should the Sixers consider clearing some cap space by using the amnesty clause on Elton Brand (even though no one expects them to do so)? And, my favorite forever-unresolved issue: Should the Sixers trade Andre Iguodala?
I’ve long believed that the Sixers should thank Iguodala for his services and then call a cab – or maybe a limo if Adam Aron wants to splurge -- and ship him off to the airport. His proponents contend that Iguodala is an excellent defender and the team’s best all-around player. And while that might be true, Iguodala’s skill-set and shot-selection didn’t help the Sixers in the playoffs last year (11.4 ppg, 7 rpg, 6.8 apg during the postseason).
In Game 5 of the first-round against Miami, Iguodala had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. It was an excellent effort – until it wasn’t. In the end, when it mattered most, when there were 16 seconds left and the Sixers had a chance to win and survive, Iguodala failed. The supposed go-to guy and team leader took and missed a bad shot. It cost the Sixers the game and the series.
“Those are the shots that I want him to take, the step-back jumper, the crossover jumper,” LeBron James said after the Heat moved on. “I'm playing the numbers."
James couldn’t have crafted a bigger insult. Those are the shots I want him to take.
In the NBA, teams with superstars win championships and teams without them don’t. That’s the way it worked for decades before the lockout, and that’s the way it will remain. Iguodala is a nice enough player, but the days of imagining him as a superstar have long since faded.
Worse, particularly for a new ownership group that’s desperate to reengage a fan base that mostly ranges from distracted to indifferent, Iguodala has never been the over-sized personality the organization hoped he could become after jettisoning Allen Iverson. Right now, the face of the franchise is Doug Collins. The coach can only serve in that capacity for so long. The man has a brilliant basketball mind, but few fans buy tickets to watch him think and point. The Sixers need someone else to climb the ladder and post his name on the must-see marquee – and it isn’t going to be Iguodala.
“His personality - he's not outgoing,” Ed Stefanski, the Sixers former general manager, admitted last season. “He's not high-fiving. He's not reacting to the crowd. Andre's personality probably doesn't help. . . . Andre is more respected outside of Philadelphia by the executives in the NBA."
It’s possible that the franchise will be more willing to trade Iguodala now that Stefanski is gone. The former general manager was a huge believer in Iguodala – which is why Iguodala has a contract that will pay him around $13.5 million this year and $14.7 million next year. Iguodala even has a player option in 2013-14 for close to $16 million. Take a moment to let that digest. You might need some antacid tablets and an industrial-sized drum of Pepto.
The contract isn’t Iguodala’s fault. The Sixers offered him more money and he took it. Makes perfect sense. But in exchange, the Sixers have received good (not great) play from a good (not great) player whom they have so far refused to trade. That makes less than perfect sense – particularly for a team that is still a long way from becoming a legitimate title contender.
Last season, after the Sixers were dismissed from the playoffs, Iguodala was asked whether he thought he’d be back in Philadelphia. He did his best to dodge the question and said that he expects to “be back in the NBA” this season. Then, since no one else seemed willing to do it for him, Iguodala patted himself on the back for a while in full view of the media and fans watching the press conference at home.
In one of the stranger unprompted moments of self-aggrandizement, Iguodala prattled on about putting “a stamp on my career in the Sixers record books” and joining “some of the greatest basketball players ever. Doctor J, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Hal Greer, Wilt Chamberlain.”
He was talking about making history as the Sixers all-time steals leader. I think. You know those flash-bangs used by various branches of the military? With each Sixers legend Iguodala mentioned as his equal, my vision became blurrier and the ringing in my ears grew louder.
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