Earlier today the Blazers and Bobcats completed a trade, sending Gerald Wallace to Portland in exchange for Joel Przybilla, 2 first round picks, Dante Cunningham, and Sean Marks. This is significant news for Sixers fans because it provides a good idea as to what the market for Andre Iguodala is. Wallace and Iguodala are comparable players in terms of talent, age (27 and 28), and contract (Iguodala is owed 44 million over the next three seasons; Wallace is owed 21 over the next two).
Although reports surfaced early this season that the Blazers had offered Nic Batum and Przybilla for Andre Iguodala, I'm inclined to believe that's false. During negotiations for Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats reportedly inquired about Batum, and were turned down, prompting this tweet from ESPN's Marc Stein:
Blazers been telling teams all year that Batum CAN'T be had.
A huge sigh of relief from someone who lost sleep over the Sixers' reported rejection.
The Bobcats ended up settling for three expiring contracts and two first-round picks (likely in the 20s). I'm sorry, but that's nowhere near what my asking price for Andre Iguodala would be. As many of you know I'm fully behind trading Iguodala, handing the team over to Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, and entering full-rebuild mode. But patience is a virtue. There will be better offers for Iguodala down the road; there's absolutely no reason to trade him for 30 cents on the dollar right now.
The Sixers are playoff-bound and relevant in Philadelphia again. If Thorn swapped the Sixers' best player a similar package to what the Bobcats received for Wallace, it would have been an epic fail. Disaster averted, and Iguodala trades shall be re-visited this summer. Until then ...