FanNation - The Republic of Sport

BombSniffinDog said 09/02, 02:27 PM
There was a lot of talk when Iguodala turned down $57 million last year, but this year his gamble paid off with a huger contract. The question is, is he worth it for the Sixers, would be be worth it for ANY team at $80 million?

I think Igoudala may be one of the under appreciated players in the league. While huge contracts usually go to those "superstars" who score and dunk all night and mug for the camera, Andre does all the things that they don't like to show on sportscenter. Andre is a physical player, who takes on the best offensive players defensively. He's a strong finisher around the rim, and has well above average court vision for getting team mates involved. He rebounds with the best at his position and he plays aggressively with or without the ball on either end of the court. His comparisons to a scottie pippen type player are reasonable. The sixers have a classy guy here who does all the right things, which eventually they are going to need if they want to make it deeper into the playoffs.

BombSniffinDog said 09/02, 07:28 PM
I'm going to say again that for the sake of real arguments, being an "All Star" doesn't mean much. In some cases, it's a joke of an popularity contest.

$80 million over 6 years, depending on how it's structured is only $13-14 million per year. Of his draft class, Luol Deng signed for roughly the same contract reportedly. And Iggy has better stats. Comparing him to players already under contract isn't quite as fair, since it's not like Stefanski somehow "chose" Iggy over Tayshaun or Josh Howard.

Speaking of Howard, while the two score about the same amount, Iguodala ranks about 3rd in the league in steals, dwarfing Howard. Also Iguodala also manages to rank in the top 30 overall in assists despite not being a starting PG, Howard is outclassed here also.

Speaking of stats, Iggy is one of the few players in the NBA who routinely averages over 18 points per game, ~5 boards and ~5 assists. The other players are Lebron, Kobe, TMac.

Iggy has improved his shooting and scoring each of the 4 seasons he's been in the league. He has also decreased his turnovers despite being expected to handle the ball more.

BombSniffinDog said 09/03, 08:26 PM
A few things teams need to be championship contenders:
1) A good ball handler/distributor
2) A good low post presence
3) Great defense

A championship contender needs to have the ability to handle the ball, and the sixers have andre miller to do that for now... but Iggy has proven himself to be a capable ball handler also. the nicest thing is his ability and willingness to distribute the ball absolutely sets him apart from almost all other players of his comparison especially for a 4th year player. If a player is open, Iggy WANTS to pass the ball, thats a great attitude.

Contender teams need lockdown defenders, ie. Bruce Bowen, Tayshuan, Kobe, Posey, or the way Pierce shut down Kobe. Iggy can do that. He's physical enough to guard small forwards like Lebron and Pierce, and quick enough to guard Kobe or Rip Hamilton.

Iggy's contract is sizeable, but it's NOT the type of "max contract" that players like Gilbert Arenas signed: ~$111 million over 6 years.

Iggy is only in his 4th season and he's shown progressive improvement each season. He's the type of player who players better when you put good players next to him, and in fact, good players get better with Iggy on the court.