The Dallas Mavericks are the reported frontrunners to trade for veteran swingman Andre Iguodala, despite a recent report suggesting the Mavs are not interested in acquiring him.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reported multiple executives suggested the Mavs are the favorites to make a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, likely bundling veteran and former Grizzly Courtney Lee along with the 2020 first-round pick they acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the Andrew Bogut trade four years ago, along with other considerations to appease Memphis.
It's not the first time that Lee surfaces as a potential trade chip, as Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com had previously outlined a potential deal with Lee headlining the package along with the pick.
Less than two weeks ago Marc Stein of The New York Times — who covered the Mavericks for The Dallas Morning News before his extensive career with ESPN — said the team had no plans to pursue a trade for the 2015 NBA Finals MVP.
The Mavericks continue to be linked to Andre Iguodala, but league sources say Dallas is not actively pursuing a trade for the Memphis swingman and does not plan to
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 20, 2019
Some executives suggested the Stein report was merely posturing, as the Mavericks are likely “arguing over the Warriors' pick.”
The Grizzlies are extremely confident in their ability to trade Iguodala:
“We will trade him, period,” said a Grizzlies executive. “We've gone far enough into the structure of deals with more than one team to say that [confidently].”
It's unclear who else could be in the race for Iguodala. The Houston Rockets reportedly exhausted three- and four-team trade permutations in hopes to acquire the Swiss army knife, throwing in the towel.
The Rockets made Iguodala a gaudy offer in the summer of 2017 before the Warriors topped their offer and retained him after Kevin Durant gave up a few millions in his one-and-one deal to keep some of the key veterans in the roster.
Teams around the league have been hesitant to include a first-round compensation in a trade for a player that not only makes $17.2 million this season, but is viewed as a rental for the postseason, considering he is 35 years old and in need of injury management, as he's showed the past few seasons.
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