For the past three seasons, Andre Iguodala has played a significant role in the Golden State Warriors success during a period in which they have won two championships. However, all good things must come to an end with reports that he could be leaving the Bay Area this summer. As declared by The Vertical's Shams Charania Iguodala is seriously considering offers from other teams this offseason. The Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz are all considered possible destinations for Iguodala as well as the Golden State Warriors.
Iguodala wants to join a contender
While the expectation from Iguodala is that the team he signs with will become serious title contenders shortly thereafter. There is a possibility that on the open market Iguodala could be paid as much as $20 million a year. For the past four seasons Andre Iguodala has spent his NBA career in the Bay area, and for the previous three seasons, he has embraced the role as the Warriors sixth man and this year he is a finalist for the sixth man of the year award. He has made a significant difference on both ends of the floor for this Warriors team despite having a reduced role. Iguodala averaged 15.1 points per game in his first nine seasons in the NBA. Ever since he has embraced his reduced role with the Warriors his scoring output went down to 7.9 ppg.
Every other team in the NBA knows how happy Iguodala is in the Bay Area. To make him switch team, they will have to make an offer that he cannot refuse. This task is also an insurmountable challenge when you take into consideration that with the foursome of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Iguodala has plenty of reasons to stay in the Bay Area.
Iguodala has great leverage
However, Iguodala can still use the fact that other teams are interested in him to demand more money out of the Warriors as he can use this fact as an enormous leverage. There are reports that Iguodala's teammate Kevin Durant is more than willing to take a pay cut to allow the Warriors to make use of Iguodala's Bird rights.
Which means the Warriors can go over the salary cap to pay Iguodala, and if Iguodala does leave that will have insufficient money to replace him. If Iguodala joins another team, there will be no doubt that Kevin Durant would demand his max contract which would create further complications for the Warriors.
Despite being 33 years old, Iguodala has shown he can still step up in big moments his most notable moment was in the 2015 NBA Finals as he posted a stat line of 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds to take home the Finals MVP award. Another moment was when he scored 20 points in this year's game 5 of the NBA Finals to help the Warriors clinch the title. While the Warriors do have a studded all-star team, Iguodala has arguably played just as big of a role in the success of the Warriors championship in recent years. With the upcoming contract discussions of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry this summer, it might be hard to give Iguodala a deal that will satisfy him.
