Posts tagged Andreiguodala at FanHouse

When Ed Stefanski moved into Philly's front office last December, a lot of people figured it was just a matter of time before Mo Cheeks was handed his walking papers. After all, Cheeks was in the midst of the final year of his contract, and in this day and age of the salary cap and guaranteed contracts, the easiest way for a new GM to put his stamp on an organization is hand-picking a new coaching staff.

But instead of giving Cheeks the axe, Stefanski gave him a one-year extension in February. And after watching Cheeks orchestrate a surprising second-half run, in which the Sixers went from being 12 games under .500 to not only securing the seventh seed but also pushing the favored Pistons to six games, Stefanski rewarded Cheeks with another extension today. (How many years? Stay tuned -- exact details should come out after this afternoon's press conference.)

After Philly made a big splash earlier this summer by giving truckloads of money to Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala, I'm guessing today's news will barely register on the radar of most NBA fans. But in my opinion, locking Cheeks up should prove to be just as (if not more) instrumental to Philly's re-emergence as one of the top teams in the East.

He's enjoys teaching the game as much as he does coaching it, which is absolutely vital considering Philly will be relying on the development of high-ceiling youngsters like Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights as much as the veteran leadership of Brand, Iguodala and Andre Miller.

The Sixers landed their big name free agent in Elton Brand, resigned their "star" Andre Iguodala to more money than God, and made their smart signing with Louis Williams. Now they've capped off a very busy offseason with the veteran locker room guy signing, inking Donyell Marshall to a minimum salary contract.

Marshall, at 35, isn't going to be getting any significant playing time, just as he hasn't in his last several stops, including Chicago, Cleveland and Seattle. With OKC looking forward, they agreed to a buyout, which allowed Marshall to sign with the Sixers. While Marshall doesn't have much to provide a loaded Sixers squad on the floor, he is known to be the quintessential locker room leader, and provides experience and guidance for a notably young team.

To look at the Sixers up and down now that Ed Stefanski has completed the polishing of the roster, it's clear that it's been nothing but upgrades for Philadelphia. Stefanski has managed to add significant talent without taking on bad contracts in trades, hasn't gone for any unnecessary homeruns, and has resigned a very popular player that, despite a lot of misgivings, definitely gets it done in the boxscore. Let's go ahead and pencil in Stefanski for Executive of the Year next year. Sure it's early, but the Sixers have gone from the surprising plucky team to a legitimate force in the East under him. And he didn't even need Kevin McHale selling the farm for a couple of chickens to do it.

Anyway, here's hoping Marshall doesn't have anymore 'wardrobe malfunctions' in Philly.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

A few weeks ago, Andre Iguodala signed what will be the second largest post-rookie contract from the draft class of 2004, behind only elite center Dwight Howard. Is Iguodala the second best player from the class? No, you'll see a few others higher on the list than 'Dre.

But Iguodala's still a damn fine player. Until the Allen Iverson trade midway through 2006-07, 'Dre boasted a highly efficient shooting clip, including a top 10 finish in True Shooting percentage in 2005-06. Iguodala isn't much of a shooter, taking threes ineffectively and infrequently. Instead he relies on elite athleticism. With it, he can exploit defenses off the dribble, getting to the rack regularly against inferior opponents/systems and often finding himself in space to create against tougher cookies. Iguodala also has a little bit of Gerald Wallace in him, in that he can slip away off the ball and get open for an Andre Miller dish.

Still A.I. left, Iguodala's shooting has suffered. The primary cause, you'll find, is that 'Dre has been forced into an alpha role on offense that doesn't fit him. Philadelphia has to score, and most of the team's rotation is bad at scoring efficiently or creating shots -- and none beyond Iguodala can do both. (Willie Green can do neither.) A certain high-usage power forward should help allow Iguodala to slide back into his offensive comfort zone.

Andre Iguodala feels like a new man with his new contract and new teammates who should take the Sixers to new heights. As such, he wants a new nickname. From the Philadelphia Daily News (via Skeets via Sixersoul):

"I don't like 'Iggy,' I don't mind 'The Other A.I.,' " he said. "It just shows the fans are watching basketball and know what I do. I want to be 'Dre, that's it.

"The A.I. thing, it's about Allen, always being in his shadow. He's a different player, brings a different element. It's like Kobe and Michael Jordan. Everybody says, 'Who's the next M.J?' You never want to be compared to another player [that way]. I just want to be me."

I totally get what he's saying about "The Other A.I." -- he's working on his own legacy, not living out Iverson's -- but 'Dre isn't much of a nickname. When I say "Iggy," every NBA fan knows who I'm talking about. Do you know how many guys named Andre are in the NBA? Well, I don't, but it's a lot, including 40% of Philly's starting lineup. Sorry man, but unless you come up with something better, it's going to be Iggy for a while.

Philadelphia really needed to keep Andre Iguodala at just about all costs, both in order to contend for a title and to avoid another season of "Willie Green, NBA starter." The money's high, but the 76ers hardly had better options. If Iguodala was planning on holding out for $80 million, well Molly just pay the man.

Of course, contracts don't get signed inside a vacuum. (That'd be awesome, though! I'd have a use for my astronaut pen.) In looking at the greater landscape, we can assess how much milk Philly got for its salt. The following graph shows each Class of '04 product whom signed a contract (this summer or last) in excess of $50 million. Average salary is shown in green. We descend from Dwight Howard at $15.8 million to Andris Biedrins at $10.5 million. The players' 2007-08 PER adjoins and is shown in (a pitiful approximation of) the players' team colors.



Iguodala received the second richest contract in this class. But based on 2007-08, four players who signed a smaller deal -- Al Jefferson, Kevin Martin, Josh Smith and Biedrins -- are as good as or better than Iguodala. In other words, the Sixers didn't get great value for Iguodala. Consider that Martin is a measure better and will make $11.5 million less over the next five years. Smith is two years younger than 'Dala, basically even on production today, and will make $10 million less over the next six years.

It's worth noting that the two best values among the Class of '04 elite -- Jefferson and Martin -- were signed last summer. So much for the unassailable power teams supposedly have in restricted free agency.

Sixers GM Ed Stefanski can put a big check mark on his summer to-do list after signing 21-year-old guard Louis Williams to a five-year deal today. Exact terms of the deal are not yet known, but Williams' agent sounded pleased when confirming the news to the Philadelphia Daily News:

"It's a good deal for Louis," Merle Scott, Williams' agent, told the Daily News. "It gives him a chance to grow with a team that's building and allows him to stay with the team he came into the league with."

It'll be interesting to see what kind of deal Williams was able to get -- he's yet to start a single game in his career but is considered a vital piece of the team's backcourt of the future. In fact, it's conceivable he could be running the point full-time by the end of the year if the team decides to move Andre Miller's expiring $10 million contract at the deadline.

While locking up Williams is good for the team's future, the team still needs to figure out how to get Andre Iguodala under contract if they want to compete this year. What will it take to get it done? Looking at the contracts that Emeka Okafor and Luol Deng (two of Iggy's classmates from the 2004 draft) just signed, Philly wouldn't be negotiating in good faith if they didn't open the discussion at six years and $71 million.

This NBA free agency thing has been absolutely bonkers, hasn't it? Baron Davis opts out, signs with the Clippers. Elton Brand now has no reason to leave, as the Clips finally got him some help, so he goes ahead and ... signs with the Sixers for similar dollars. Huh? Corey Maggette, despite all the rumors, takes the big payday with Golden State.

And we're not finished. There's still the matter of Josh Smith and Andre Iguodala, as well as smaller pieces like James Posey, Sasha Vujacic, and Ronny Turiaf. Madness, people. Join me and my fellow FanHousers at 3PM EST to discuss.

Now that Elton Brand is Philly-bound and Corey Maggette has seen the light and chosen Northern California over points south, what on Earth are the Clippers to do? Landing Baron Davis was a coup, plain and simple. But losing the team's two other top weapons -- when desperately trying to keep one of them in Brand -- is bad news.

What do the Clippers do now? L.A. has substantial cap space, which had been earmarked for Brand. There's a gaping whole next to Chris Kaman -- something named Tim Thomas or Paul Davis are otherwise your starting power forwards. Josh Smith of Atlanta, a still-restricted free agent who had been Philadelphia's premiere target this summer, seems like a no-brainer. He's not your traditional power forward, but he's certainly the best option alive (and some would argue he's a better piece than Brand at this point).

With Eric Gordon in line to succeed Cuttino Mobley at the two-guard, chasing someone like Monta Ellis or Andre Iguodala out of spite wouldn't be practical. If you think Al Thornton is an acceptable power forward next to Kaman, though, maybe you chase Iggy to play the three for five years and hope for the best. Between Davis (not Paul), Kaman, and Thornton, there's a good chance scoring won't be a terrible issue. (Scoring efficiently might be.) Smith or Iguodala both offer non-buckets contributions, and should be high on any list of targets the "braintrust" in L.A. develops.

Last year it was these two geniuses making all the NBA vacation noise. With the NBA free agency period just underway, we find out what NBA stars will be giving their [travel] agents a call this year as they look for new destinations.

1. Gilbert Arenas
6'4", 215 -- PG -- 26 years old, 7 years pro
Status: Unrestricted FA after opting out

Supposedly, Gilbert Arenas is all set to sign with the Washington Wizards again. And if he didn't you can bet there would be one teed off formerly unrestricted free agent. Rumor is, though, that both the Warriors and Wizards have thrown out max deals for Arenas, so it basically comes down to him picking at this point. Spiiiice.

Available Bookings: Washington, Golden State
The likely scenario is that Gil ends up staying where he is via the double-secret-probation deal already in place, getting close to max money and crippling the Wizards salary cap for the next few years. But gosh, they're fun to watch.

Destination: Washington.

2. Elton Brand
6'8", 254 -- PF -- 29 years old, 9 years pro
Status: Unrestricted after opting out

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

There are two ways to look at the end of Philly's season. On the one hand, the team exceeded expectations by making the playoffs and blew everyone's minds by nearly upsetting the Pistons.

On the other, Andre Iguodala's disappearing act against Detroit should cement the notion that he's better-suited as a sidekick than a leading man. Unfortunately, there will be no leading men available in the middle of the first round, meaning they're going to end up with a sidekick to a sidekick.

Picks: #16

Needs: A scoring big man. Samuel Dalembert and Reggie Evans bring defense and rebounding, but this team lacks an inside presence on the other end of the ball. Playing Thaddeus Young, a natural three, out of position at the four is not the long-term answer.