Well, you may not be wining right now, but I think you give him as much time as possible and let Iggy handle some of the playmaking duties, letting Lillard play off the ball some and use his fairly elite shooting ability for stretches of games (which could help ease his transition).
Absolutely. I think the best part of Iggy in that scenario is it eases some of the pressure off of Lillard, and you don't need him to average 18 and 7 his first year to be an effective piece.
Many basketball players hit their peak at 26. Guys like Nash and Dirk are an exception when they still play at nearly their peak effectiveness well into their 30's. I think Aldridge could age very well, but I think Iguodala is more similar to Gerald Wallace and Shawn Marion in that he'll take significant steps back before the age of 30. He's basically already done this the last few seasons statisitically. I also don't believe its as simple as increasing his FGA and watching his scoring increase at the same rate. It's much easier to be efficient when you have a low usage rate and score on quality opportunities. As your usage rate increases generally you have to take more difficult shots and the percentage drops. You see extremes where guys like Joel Pryzbilla lead the league in FG% for a portion of the season but only score 6 ppg. Joel is still a horrific offensive player.
Only concern with this, is that I'd be afraid it would be like how we got Gerald Wallace right before he started going downhill. But Batum is a good role player, while Iggy has been a legit all-star in this league. Iggy only has 2 more years left, so it's not like we'd be acquiring a boat anchor. I'd rather have him than overpaying Batum. Lillard/ Matthews/Williams Iggy/Claver/Babbit/Barton LA/Freeland Hibbert/Leonard That team just might get out of the 1st round. But the talent level only seems to be on par with the team that got bounced out of the 1st round against Dallas.
He hasn't taken any steps back statistically, really. His PER has held even, as have the peripherals...his scoring efficiency has held even, his rebound rate has ticked up, the last few seasons have been his best for assist rate, his turnover rate has held even. His defense is still at an elite level. Last season was his best for win shares per 48 minutes. Denny's point about shot attempts is valid, because it's not a matter of a guy who's only taken a few shot attempts and projecting him upwards. That's not so valid. What Denny was saying is that Iguodala's shot attempts have dropped the last few years, so his points-per-game dip is deceptive. That's a perfectly valid point.
...this biggest thing that concerns me about Iggy is that fact that he is getting worse at shooting FREE-throws! Who the hell gets worse at FREE-throws as their career wears on?
2008 19.9PPG 2009 18.8PPG 2010 17.1PPG 2011 14.1PPG 2012 12.4PPG I know scoring isn't everything, but I still think its an important statistical category. I'm still a fan of his game, so I don't want to make it seem as though I'm totally against bringing him here. I'm just on the fence about trying to bring him in if we arn't close to contention. If we were close to contending I'd be all over it.
If we get Hibbert I think it would be a great move to grab Iggy. If we don't get Hibbert I would much rather have Derrick Williams.
And to add to that, each year when his scoring average went down, so did his PER. Iggy is a big 'ol MEH.
2007/2008-2011/2012: FT%: 72% | 72% | 73% | 69% | 61% PPG: 19.9 | 18.8 | 17.1 | 14.1 | 12.4 PER: 19.0 | 18.4 | 17.8 | 17.3 | 17.6 WIN%: .488 | .500 | .329 | .500 | .530 Steady decline and it'll only get worse as 30 is just around the bend. He's a name and that alone will generate interest from boardies but I'm relieved to hear that Neil has shown no interest in Iggy. We dodged the Gerald Wallace decline-bullet, why self-inflict with Iggy?
In early May when I commented that trading our picks for Iggy was intriguing to me, (Yet I did not want to do it) I watched his game very closely in the playoffs. I came away with thinking that he was for sure not worth it. In a open court game he is awesome. In a half court game he is average at best on offense. Of course the playoff are almost all half court games. His jump shot is such a liability. Do we need another bad shooter? And he weighs 206, so he is all SG IMO.
I think going by scoring isn't a very good way to evaluate. That's the kind of analysis that leads to Rudy Gay getting the kind of contract he did. I think scoring efficiency, especially for a player who's shown he can score around the 20 PPG range, is more important, and rebounding, passing and defense are of massive importance. Iguodala's scoring has dropped, as he's taken fewer shots recently, but his play-making is great for a non-point guard, he's an elite defensive wing and a good rebounder for a swing man. The entire package hasn't declined.
PER isn't so precise that a difference of less than 1 PER is meaningful. His productivity as measured by PER has basically been steady state over the past 6 years (with a slight peak five years ago). His win shares per minute were the highest of his career last year.
Yeah, depending on what you look at. By PER, he's still what he's always been. By some measures his defense has actually gotten better and his win shares per minute suggest he was at his best last year (though he played less minutes...still a robust 35+ MPG).
its great when guys declining year after year go to the ASG for the first time last season. :MARIS61:
