In Ric Bucher's latest ESPN.com chat, he was asked about potential suitors for Andre Iguodala.
"I keep hearing Portland and Dallas are the best possibilities because those are deep-pocket teams not afraid to take on another big contract to get a smidge better. Don't forget the new CBA is coming. That's putting a drag on deal-making."
Speculate in the comments about who we'd get, but the most attractive piece from either team is Greg Oden. I know his injury history well, but he's a world-class center if he ever gets healthy and trading for him is absolutely a risk worth taking for me. Even if he doesn't play the rest of this year, the Sixers would get another bad draft pick and use it to find him a frontcourt mate. He's on the hook only for a qualifying offer next year, so he'd have to be locked up in order to make this trade worth it. We'd probably have to eat up Joel Przybilla's expiring contract to make the salaries match.
Not sure what that means for the future of Nicolas Batum, who they love, or recently signed Wesley Matthews. I'd love to find a way to get Luke Babbitt in the deal, who wouldn't get much playing time over the next two-three years on that Blazers team. Elliot Williams could be a nice player, but he's not much different than Louis Williams and Jodie Meeks. First round picks also, please.
The Mavericks have been in the market for Andre Iguodala since he hit puberty and them being brought up by Bucher is no surprise. They're the oldest team in the league though, so there's not a ton for the Sixers to get from them. I'm not as high on Rodrigue Beaubois as my blogger cohorts, so for me to be happy (which is all that people care about), a third team would have to be involved. Expiring contracts are not enough. There's also a shot that Marc Cuban would want to take the resurgent Elton Brand and his albatrossic contract.
Discuss. Trade Machine. Do what you do.