The Los Angeles Clippers will be entering the new season with their most formidable lineup in the entire history of the franchise. After making a couple of landscape-shaking moves in agreeing to terms with former Toronto Raptors Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, followed immediately by the jaw-dropping trade deal that allowed them to acquire the services of former Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Paul George, the Clippers instantaneously propelled themselves to championship-contender classification.
Recently, L.A. added another important piece to their puzzle by re-signing power forward JaMychal Green to an two-year, $10 million extension. While nowhere near the magnitude of the Leonard or George acquisitions, getting Green back still remains to be a crucial win for the Clippers who are now looking to round out their roster.
This is exactly what L.A. needs to do on now, and with the new season fast approaching, the team's front office must now focus their attention on adding the finishing touches to a squad that will look to be serious contenders for the title next season. In this respect, we believe that there should be one man the Clippers should target in free agency in order to take their squad to the next level. This is no other than former All-Star, former Finals MVP, and three-time NBA champion, Andre Iguodala.
To be clear, Iguodala is technically not a free agent at the moment. The 35-year-old veteran is currently a member of the Memphis Grizzlies after he was traded by the Golden State Warriors as a bid to clear some cap space following the arrival of free agent D'Angelo Russell via a sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
However, with the Grizzlies clearly focused on rebuilding, Iguodala does not figure in the team's plans moving forward, and he is fully expected to be bought out sooner rather than later. For the Clippers, this means that they cannot sign Iguodala right now (unless they opt to table a trade offer to the Grizzlies, which would not be a very smart move), and they will need to wait until he is officially waived by Memphis before they get a shot at doing so.
The Clippers, though, will not have a clear path to signing the 6-foot-6 wing once he clears the waivers, as there are also a number of other teams that have shown interest in Iguodala early on. The Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers are just two of the potential teams the Clippers will need to contend with, but nevertheless, we feel that it will be very important for L.A.'s front office to go all out to try and sign the veteran once he is available.
For starters, despite his ripe age, Iguodala can still provide upwards of 20 quality minutes per ballgame for the Clippers. During this span, he should be able to dictate the flow of play on both ends of the floor considering how he remains to be one of the more reliable two-way players in the game today.
Last season, Iguodala averaged 5.7 points, 0.7 three-pointers, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks in just 23.2 minutes off the Warriors bench, and while these are not exactly eye-popping numbers, what Iguodala brings on the defensive end is something that does not necessarily reflect on the box score.
Just imagine how tenacious a defense a lineup of Patrick Beverley, Iguodala, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George would look like. You can even throw in Montrezl Harrell (6.5 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 1.3 blocks last season) at the five for good measure, and what you have will arguably be the best defensive lineup in the league.
On the offensive end, Iguodala is not going to be required by the team to put up big numbers, but his high basketball IQ coupled with his formidable three-point acumen will still make him a threat alongside two of the best offensive players in the game today in Leonard and George.
Another important thing to note is that if the Clippers don't pounce on Iguodala, he will likely land with a team like the Lakers, and in effect, he should be able to bring all the above mentioned qualities to a team that the Clippers will likely face in the playoffs. Surely, they would rather have him on their side than to play against him down the stretch.
Iguodala is owed a staggering $17.2 million in the coming season, which is something the Clippers won't be unable to offer him. However, with the prospect of another title run on the horizon, they may just be able to entice Iguodala to sign with them for a significant discount.
At this point, this should be a no-brainer for L.A.
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