[Retro] Warriors out of Howard sweepstakes, sign Iguodala

The Golden State Warriors have reached a verbal agreement on a four-year, $48 million contract with free agent Andre Iguodala after completing a salary cap-clearing trade with the Utah Jazz, according to ESPN and media reports.


The Warriors had begun shopping contracts in hopes of creating enough cap space to try to sign free-agent center Dwight Howard, ESPN.com reported Thursday night.


Howard later confirmed via Twitter that he will sign with the Houston Rockets.


On Friday, though, it became apparent that the Warriors were slipping in the Howard sweepstakes, so Golden State shifted to trade the expiring contracts of Richard JeffersonAndris Biedrins and Brandon Rush to complete a deal with Iguodala.


The Warriors found a match in the Jazz, who will get a first-round pick in the highly anticipated 2014 draft, as well as the Warriors’ first-rounder in 2017, to take on the salaries, according to Yahoo! Sports, which first reported the Iguodala deal.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/9452879/golden-state-warriors-get-andre-iguodala-dwight-howard-chase-source-says

Like everybody else, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this Warriors run of late. But I think as a Rockets fan, you think about Warriors exceptionalism more than anyone else because their existence has invalidated what has been a spectacular run in its own right on the part of the Rockets.

They’re not replicable because so many things outside of the norm occurred for them to assemble this team. Curry being underpaid because of his early career injuries. Green emerging out of nowhere. Finding Thompson late in the lottery. Of course, the unprecedented cap spike that allowed them to nab Durant.

But the most ironic link in the chain of events was Golden State striking out on Dwight Howard and signing Andre Iguodala as a consolation prize. I remember at the time being absolutely livid that Utah had agreed to take on Jefferson, Biedrins, and Rush, clearing the stage for the Warriors to sign Dwight. And of course, we signed him.

Of course, the rest is history. The Warriors would never have become the Warriors had they had Dwight clogging up the paint demanding possessions and not had Iguodala’s defensive brilliance, leadership, and experience. It’s funny how things play out the way they do.

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[Wojnarowski] Rockets make everyone available

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has made his entire roster and future draft picks available in trade talks, a dramatic initiative with hopes of reshaping the team into a championship contender, league sources told ESPN.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26847098/rockets-making-cp3-others-available

I tweeted about this story throughout the day, but have some more thoughts better suited for longform:

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Jalen Rose on Harden and Paul

I know many of you won’t like this, but this is perfectly fair, particularly coming from a guy who voted for Harden for MVP. There are certain characteristics of James Harden’s that are less than desirable and this is one of them. I first noticed this in a playoff game vs. Portland when the Rockets fed Dwight Howard in the post on every possession. Weirdly, Harden kept himself completely uninvolved for a stretch of a few minutes. I remember thinking it was absolutely bizarre at the time.

Understandably, Chris Paul would be upset over this. Paul’s game, especially now, is predicated upon getting other guys involved. He can’t do that effectively when playing 4 on 5. But I don’t think this means Paul has to go this offseason. Guys get into it all the time. Unless this is something that had been festering and finally boiled over.

This doesn’t mean that Harden is fatally flawed or irredeemable. Remember Kobe refusing to shoot for an entire half? But he has certain traits that you have to be mindful of. Its worthwhile baggage for having one of the greatest offensive players in the world. I don’t know that he’s suddenly going to start slashing off the ball when he doesn’t have it. You just have to put together a team around him that can hold its own on those plays he decides to take off.

But I’m completely with CP3 on this one.

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