The Golden State Warriors haven't looked much like themselves for the past couple of seasons. The perennial NBA title favorites were suddenly mortal after getting dealt some brutal injuries. But they also lost one piece that isn't talked about as much – Andre Iguodala.
After two seasons away from Golden State, Iguodala is back in the Bay Area. Head coach Steve Kerr spoke candidly in a recent interview about what it was like losing their veteran leader and the realities of why it had to be done.
Via Blake Schuster of Bleacher Report:
“I think when we lost him, we lost a piece of our soul. And we knew that when we lost him. But for the long-term health of the franchise, we made the decision to create an asset that would not have been there for us otherwise. The only way to do it was to trade him (to get under the hard cap to make the acquisition of D’Angelo Russell possible). And obviously Andre became ultimately Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga. So if you just look at it from a basketball standpoint, it turned into a helluva deal.”
Although getting rid of Andre Iguodala felt off in a vacuum, the Warriors needed to make the hard decision for the sake of the franchise. Kevin Durant had decided to leave the team and shedding salary was the only way to get valuable assets in return. With him back in the fold this season, it could be the turning point to get the Dubs back on track.
“But there’s also no getting around the fact that for the last two years we’ve been wayward in many ways. And so Andre’s return, I think, is huge in a lot of different ways.
The Golden State Warriors are on a path back to contention. Getting Andre Iguodala back is one step towards that direction.
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