After recent rumors with the Golden State Warriors concerning Monta Ellis for Andre Iguodala, another California team has joined the Andre sweepstakes. According to Marc Stein, the Clippers and Sixers are talking about an Iguodala swap for Chris Kaman, the injury-plagued 29-year-old center in the final year of his contract.
Unlike the Ellis deal, which would bring over a young player in the prime of his career with the same amount of years (player option included) on their contracts, Kaman would be a pure salary dump. He's an expiring contract with expiring basketball ability and expiring health. A few years ago, he could have been a cornerstone of this franchise, but bad knees turned his career south and he lost his starting job to the youthful frontcourt of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
This sort of deal appeals to those who want the Sixers to hand the reigns all the way over to Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, nab a few more draft picks and go hard for the free agent class of 2013. I consider myself to have one foot in that camp. The other foot resides with the folks who want to bulk up with another young gun now and keep pushing towards actual relevancy, because the likelihood of Dwight Howard donning a Sixers jersey in the fall of 2013 is quite slim. But again, this seems like a lateral move for the Sixers. A salary dump but not a complete salary dump. Getting a big man but not one who'll be here for longer than a year, most likely. It's like they're doing their best to stay mediocre and nothing else.
The Clippers lost their first round pick to the Cavaliers in the Baron Davis deal, otherwise they'd have won the draft lottery and have Kyrie Irving around to join their very talented young core. The impetus for LAC to make this deal is obvious. Wing defenders are hard to come by in this league and though Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu and Jamario Moon are passable, none can be so game-changing at both ends of the court as Iguodala. This team in the open court would be absolutely devastating to defend.
But for the Sixers, it would give them a veteran center to start over Spencer Hawes and hopefully mentor any big men that they'll subsequently take in the upcoming draft. Elton Brand gets his old frontcourt mate back and the Sixers will probably manage another first round playoff exit. Hopefully at least a pick comes back to Philly in this deal, maybe by way of a 3-team trade.
That Iguodala and Kaman are both repped by the same agent could speed things up, but shouldn't drastically affect the playing field between the two front offices. More on all of this as it develops. Does this move appeal to you more than the Ellis one? Less? What about Hedo? Anybody else getting tired of these rumors?
Update 7:54: Chris Kaman has reacted to the trade talk on his Twitter account with a few gems:
How many calories are in a Philly Cheese Steak?
O Really? RT @STEIN_LINE_HQ: ESPN.com link to Iguodala-for-Kaman discussions: http://es.pn/kEYGHE
Wondering if he heard anything from the team, but that's likely reading into this too much. Carry on.