The messy marriage between veteran wing Andre Iguodala and the Memphis Grizzlies could wind up helping the Los Angeles Clippers get a stout addition to their rotation. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, all the commotion surrounding Iguodala's threat of sitting out the season if he's no traded by Thursday's deadline could generate unwanted distractions for a team that has been the feelgood story of the Western Conference, currently occupying the eighth and final playoff spot.
Iguodala recently cleared up earlier reports that he issued an edict to remain away from the team, as he has throughout the entire 2019-20 season — citing it as a collaborative decision between him and the Grizzlies brass.
Yet the three-time champion is likely becoming impatient as the seconds wind down, which should only urge the Grizzlies to make a deal or risk paying him to sit — and not even on their own bench.
Players like Dillon Brooks have already expressed their beef with Iguodala's situation, only prompting others like Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ja Morant and De'Anthony Melton to second his words.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who have been strongly linked to Iguodala due to his former agent and now president and general manager Rob Pelinka, have no assets to offer to cover his hefty $17.2 million salary for this season — making them only buyout viable.
The Clippers don't quite have the first-round pick the Grizzlies prefer in return for Iguodala, but they can offer a combination of Moe Harkless, Jerome Robinson and one or both of the Detroit Pistons second-round picks (2021 and 2023) they have in hand.
Both sides could arrange a compromise before the buzzer or else Memphis risks adding a nightmare saga that can certainly deter the upward trend they've been in the past two months.
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