NBA Draft Questions: Iguodala Gets Dealt Where? Which PF Not-Named-Monroe Goes to Golden State?
By Jason McIntyre
Or is this a smokescreen from Nelson, perhaps hoping that someone who wants him badly enough will trade up to grab him? Options at 6 for Golden State:
* North Carolina’s Ed Davis. Very similar to a player they drafted a couple years ago, Brandan Wright. Davis is not a polished offensive scorer. He’s long, but thin. He’ll go in the lottery, but 6th?
* Baylor’s Ekpe Udoh. Would be a reach here, and is similar to Davis and Monroe in that he’s thin and tall, but lacks offensive polish (probably the weakest offensively of the trio). If you’re a Golden State fan (or anyone in the Top 10), avert your eyes from these “NBA comparisons.”
* Kansas’s Cole Aldrich. Has never been an offensive threat. He probably will never score like Chris Kaman. Rebounds and blocks shots though! But as with Udoh, this spot seems like a reach for a role player. But he’ll be taken in the lottery, that’s for sure.
* Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson. Bit of a sleeper. Something of a tweener, and definitely not a classic power forward (only 6-8, 210 pounds), but at times reminds us of a slimmer, quicker, Carlos Boozer. Did college hoops fans ever see the real Patterson? He played with chucker Jodie Meeks two years ago, and then Wall/Cousins last year. Six seems a bit high, but Don Nelson’s made stranger moves.
Which leads us to perhaps the final days of Andre Iguodala in Philly.
"“If you take Turner, you have to do something with Iguodala,” a Western Conference GM says. “Turner doesn’t have the athletic ability of Iguodala, but Iguodala doesn’t have the feel for the game Turner does.” And neither of them can shoot, although Collins assured the media Thursday that Turner should have no problem improving that area of his game. “Shooting is one area of the game you can get better at,” he said, conveniently omitting the fact that Iguodala has never improved his long-range marksmanship, despite hiring a personal shooting coach."
Iggy is owed $12 million next year, then $13 million, then $14 million. A couple of ideas, one which admittedly is very crazy:
– Iggy to Indiana for Troy Murphy (making $11 million in the final year of his contract). Indiana will try to get as much as it can for Murphy’s expiring deal … what does Larry Bird think of Iggy and Danny Granger at the 2-3? Assuming it can get a PF in the draft, or perhaps a point guard … Indiana would be on the rise.
– The Nuggets send Billups to the 76ers in exchange for the dynamic Iggy. Is Ty Lawson the point guard of the future in Denver? Did Billups look like he lost a step in the postseason? Philly has a couple of PGs – Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday – and even though the latter is probably in the club’s future plans, how about having Billups tutor him for a year or two? Denver gets even more athletic (if that’s possible) and perhaps Iggy is some insurance in case ‘Melo bolts next summer. This probably favors the Nuggets too much.
– It is very, very unlikely either team would entertain this, but … Iggy to Minnesota for Al Jefferson. 1) The Wolves have a logjam up front. Jefferson and Love together makes no sense. 2) Minnesota could still add Wesley Johnson with the fourth pick, and would have a real potent scoring punch in Iggy and Johnson. Would those two be enough to lure Ricky Rubio to the States? 3) Philly gets the low post scorer it thought it was getting in Elton Brand. Deal favors the 76ers too much, though.
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