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In a shocking turn of events, Andre Iguodala has declined his player option with the Denver Nuggets for the 2013-14 campaign. The one-time All Star still has a ton left in the tank, but apparently he has had enough of the mile-high city.
Now, when Iggy first signed with the Nuggets he purposefully had a player option set up for this season — AI would have made $16.1 million if he stayed in Denver in 2013. Digging deeper, the forward obviously didn’t like what was going on in the front office and now has 29 other teams to pick from.
The Cleveland Cavaliers should be atop his list.
With Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters in the backcourt, the Cavs appear to be heading in the right direction, but they lack a play-making slasher like Iguodala. For example, Cleveland’s starting small forward last season was Alonzo Gee, who at 25 years old isn’t talented enough for a starting role with a contender in this league. However, adding a savvy veteran like Iggy to the mix would give make Cleveland that much deeper with Gee on the bench.
Surely, the Cavaliers shouldn’t break the bank on a player on the decline like Iguodala, yet his well-rounded style of play is worth $7 million a year or so. While the team is involved in both the Chris Paul and Dwight Howard sweepstakes its priorities should be set on role players like AI.
With that being said, the nine-year NBA veteran could easily wind up with a team like the Dallas Mavericks simply because he wants to go to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career in the coming seasons.
