Finally, it's Monday! Everybody loves Mondays! And aside from an excuse to use the word "query" in a title, this post in an indicator of things to come for the offseason here at Liberty Ballers. We're almost a month removed the Draft and with three merciless months away from actual basketball, expect to see a lot of hypotheticals, "almost" stories, and goofiness as the crew here scrapes together material for your reading pleasure so you don't forget about us. Today's waste of time is not about the possible inability of Andre and Evan to co-exist; rather, the prospective of trading one of them mid-season.
Trading Andre Iguodala
Jordan wrote this many months ago in preparation for your being dealt at the trade deadline, but didn't publish it until the deadline passed. If another tribute post is necessary this season, this Sixers team would be significantly below the .500 mark closing in on the All-Star Break, and the front office would be calling it a day on the season. While the blame for our potential failure could be placed on our less-than-able front court, Andre has the most value on the market between he and Elton Brand, so his contract (looking better by the day) would be the one to go.
What are the benefits of trading Andre? We could load up on expirings to clear cap space in preparation for a big free agent splash next summer. Carmelo Anthony tops my list of small forward replacements for Iguodala if he were to get dealt, because I think he and Turner would compliment each other well. While speculation is that Melo wants to go to New York, I wouldn't say Philly is out of the question for the Syracuse alum. At least for the rest of this season, the onus would be placed on Jrue Holiday and Turner to run the show -- hopes are they'd respond in a big way in the name of accelerated development.
If Evan and Andre really don't play well together this season (which I don't think will be the case), trading 'Dre makes more economic sense. We'd shred the contract, have Turner on the cheap for the next few years, and fill the gap with Thaddeus Young's final half-year of his contract. But does it make the ever-present Ed Stefanski basketball sense?
More after the jump.
Trading Evan TurnerLet's try to forget the Orlando Summer League and DeMarcus Cousins' impressive work in Vegas for a second, and say that Turner is having a respectable rookie season. Maybe he's garnering a few Rookie of the Year (ROWENGARTNER!) votes, but not tearing up the competition -- he's solid. But Andre has put in another season of great defense, open court playmaking, and has somehow improved his three-point shot/shot selection. The market for Evan Turner and his rookie salary is much bigger than Iguodala's. We could probably pull a mediocre first half from Wesley Johnson and a protected first rounder from Minnesota and the Wrath of Kahn in exchange for Turner. Or any number of other deals out there for good but not spectacular young talent and a pick.
Another scenario is a team is willing to take on Elton Brand's contract with Turner's. Having not been all that impressed with Turner's upside, do you swap them both for expirings and a late first? This way, the front office would theoretically be able to sculpt the team in a more efficient way, with maneuverable cap room and a few holes to fill. Unfortunately it would mean giving up on a high-IQ shooting guard with tremendous work ethic and a proven track record for cap relief and not much else.
This doesn't seem to make much basketball sense either, but it would seem trading your best player or number two draft pick never would in the short term. Consider both the market value of both players as well as the future of this franchise with Evan or Andre in it. I, for one, am leaning towards trading Andre for a young big and a pick, then wait until Brand expires for us to contend. But more on that later, kids :)