FanPost

How would Andre Iguodala fit with the Phoenix Suns?


So the rumours of a trade between Philly and the Suns with Amar'e and Iggy as the main components have been heating up recently (today was the first mention of it in the national media), and the majority of Phoenix fans on Bright Side of the Sun (including myself) are hailing it as the best possible deal for STAT. However the acquisition of Iguodala (whether or not a deal goes down) won't be smooth sailing and there will be some definite pitfalls to go along with the positive aspects of an Iggy trade.

Important Note: This is NOT a trade post, all i'm doing is looking how Andre Iguodala would fit in with the Suns. Not how we'll look without STAT or any other player who is traded either to us or from us as we don't know who these players will be.

Defense

This is the area Iggy could help us most and one of the reasons i would be most excited to see him in a Suns Uniform. Iggy averages 2.5 combined steals and blocks a game compared to 1.3 for J-Rich and 1.1 for Hill.

If advanced stats are your bag, then Iggy's defensive rating and defensive win shares are also significantly better than our current starting wins (107 and 1.9 respectively for Iggy, 112 and 0.7 for Hill, and 112 and 0.6 for J-Rich).

I wouldn't go so far as to suggest the Iguodala is a Artest or Battier level defender, but he would certainly be an improvement over whichever player he replaced in the starting lineup and i would predict he would actually get better defensively on a team where he isn't also the number one offensive option.

Rebounding

Iguodala averages 6.9 rpg compared to 5.4 for Grant Hill and 5.1 for Richardson. He gets 10% of availiable rebounds when he's on the floor compared to 9.3% for Richardson and 10.3% for Hill.

This is pretty much a wash, there are no stats to suggest that Iggy is any more a proficient a rebounder than ouir current starting wings. However, if either Hill or J-rich moved to the bench to accomodate Iggy, then it is likely we would see an improvement in rebounding from our second unit.

Offense

This is where an Iggy acquisition gets... interesting. Iggy is averaging 17.3 points and 5.7 assists a game this season, surely a good thing. However, Iggy is only a career .323 three-point shooter and is shooting .314% this season. While this isn't terrible for Iggy ( he has a True shooting percentage of .524% so he obviously can find ways to score), it could risk affecting a Suns offense which is predicated on floor-spacing to allow Nash to go to work, especially if Iggy were to replace J-rich in the starting lineup as Hill and Iggy are both pretty poor three point shooters.

One thing Iggy could help to drastically improve in our offense is shot-creation. Currently, Steve Nash is the only player on our team who can consistently create for himself and others (Dragic is improving at this) and Iggy would certainly help.

Other Considerations

Iggys Contract- Iggy is under contract for another 4-5 years at about $12million a year, which is a bargain if he comes in and produces on both ends of the court. However, with rumors of a new CBA which could drastically reduce player salaries do the Suns want to commit to paying Iggy for such a long time?

Earl Clark- Despite Iggy playing at SG this season, his proper position is clearly at the 3. While Earl Clark is nowhere near ready to start at NBA level and be effective, he has the potential to be a serious contributor in a few years. While this wouldn't be a reason to stop a trade with Philly, it is an important consideration that an acquisition of Iggy could affect the long-term development of Clark as they play the same position.

Conclusion

An Amar'e trade which netted us Iggy (and Dalembert) would probably be the best plausible deal for STAT that the Suns could get. Iggy would be a great piece to build around (contract issues aside) and he would bring some much needed wing defense, hopefully providing the role of stopper that we have lacked since Marion/bell were traded and that Hill has tried his best to replicate. On offense, Iggy's poor 3p% could affect our spacing and there would definitely be an adjustment period from the departure of STAT and we would surely see an reduction in the usage/effectiveness of our pick and roll game. Hopefully this adjustment period could allow us to still make the playoffs although either way our ceiling is not all that high this year and an Iggy trade would definitely give us our best wing player since Joe Johnson was sent packing to Atlanta.

I have no idea of the likeliness of this trade (or any Amar'e trade) happening before the deadline but if a trade does happen there a few i like better than this one.