When the Golden State Warriors traded Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies, it was widely assumed that it would be only a matter of time before he was bought out.
Rumors immediately began to circulate about teams being interested in signing him once bought out, including the Los Angeles Lakers among others.
However, that hasn’t been the case as the Grizzlies have held firm on either keeping Iguodala on the roster or finding a trade partner for him. Iguodala would prefer to play for a championship contender and the Grizzlies are clearly a rebuilding team, but the two sides still have yet to come to some sort of agreement.
Iguodala recently spoke about his ongoing situation with Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. In talking about a buyout, he noted it would only make sense if he isn’t leaving any money on the table:
“At this point, the only buyout that makes sense — if I’m speaking on someone else’s behalf, thinking as an agent — is you don’t leave money on the table,” he says. “Especially in this league. Because you’ll never get it back, no matter what people say. Negotiations are a tactic, so you’ve got to be careful how you approach it, or how you verbalize what you would do going forward. But you can’t leave anything on the table.”
Iguodala understands the business aspects of this league which is why he would be so hesitant to leave money on the table. For someone in Iguodala’s situation, he’s looking to hold on to every dollar he can.
One thing Iguodala and the Grizzlies have been able to agree upon is that he won’t report to 2019 NBA training camp while the two sides work on a resolution, according to Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian:
Andre Iguodala will not attend Grizzlies’ Media Day on Monday nor report to the team’s training camp under an arrangement reached between the two sides, according to team and league sources.
If Iguodala is eventually moved, the question remains where he will end up. The Lakers have obviously had interest as they could still use some help with perimeter defense and Iguodala showed he still has that ability in the 2019 NBA playoffs.
The issue for the Lakers is they don’t currently have an open roster spot even if Iguodala becomes available. The 35-year-old wants to play for a championship contender and he fits a need for the Lakers but at this time, there seems to be a lot of obstacles in the way of the two sides coming together.
