Getty Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Andre Iguodala doesn’t appear to be making many new friends in Memphis, with multiple members of the Grizzlies calling for the team to pull the trigger on trading the disgruntled veteran.
Following the Grizzlies 96-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday, Dillion Brooks called out Iguodala for not wanting to play with the team, instead saving his services for a contender.
“Andre Iguodala’s a great player. I feel like he’s doing the right thing for his career, but we don’t really care,” Brooks told reporters on Monday via the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Evan Barnes. “It’s not a distraction at all. I laugh at that type of stuff.”
He continued, getting even more blunt about his feelings: “A guy that’s on our team that doesn’t want to be on our team. I can’t wait ’til we find a way to trade him so we can play him and show him what really Memphis is about.”
Grizzlies star rookie Ja Morant backed Brooks’ statement, showing his stamp of approval on Twitter following the game.
Memphis is a surprising 25-25, winning seven of their last 10. Morant is currently the betting favorite for Rookie of the Year after being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Andre Iguodala Ready to Miss Season: Report
The situation with Iguodala has been at an impasse basically since he was dealt from Golden State to Memphis in the offseason. The Grizzlies have wanted to trade Iguodala, but interested teams around the league are hoping that they buy him out instead.
The New York Times’ Marc Stein reported that the Grizzlies are “adamant” that they will not buy him out if a trade fails to materialize.
The Iguodala situation is fascinating because Memphis is adamant that it will not buy him out if a trade fails to materialize by Thursday’s 3 PM buzzer. You obviously expect the Grizzlies to say that now … but there are only 75 hours left to find a trade anticipated for months
Meanwhile, a report from David Aldridge of The Athletic said that Iguodala is ready to miss the entire season if he does not get bought out or traded.
Per league sources, Andre Iguodala is prepared to sit out the rest of this season if Memphis isn’t able to orchestrate a trade with one of the agreed-upon teams he designated by Thursday’s trade deadline.
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“At this point, the only buyout that makes sense — if I’m speaking on someone else’s behalf, thinking as an agent — is you don’t leave money on the table,” Iguodala told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole in September. “Especially in this league. Because you’ll never get it back, no matter what people say.
“Negotiations are a tactic, so you’ve got to be careful how you approach it, or how you verbalize what you would do going forward. But you can’t leave anything on the table.”
Iguodala averaged a career-low 23.2 minutes during his final season in Golden State, scoring 5.7 points per game with 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
Lakers Among Contenders Interested in Adding Andre Iguodala
GettyAndre Iguodala.
A buyout would be ideal for Iguodala, who could pick his next team as he angles for a fourth championship. Iguodala — the 2015 Finals MVP — is 36 years old, and might not eat major minutes or rack up stats, but can still make a huge impact on the defensive end.
A team like the Western Conference leading Los Angeles Lakers would be a nice fit for Iguodala, but the team has limited resources left to make a deal with the reported asking price being so high.
Heavy’s Sean Deveney reported in January that the Grizzlies “haven’t budged” on the price.
“Maybe they will as the date gets closer, but they’ve made clear, they’re not interested in a buyout with Andre and they’re looking for a first-rounder,” Deveney said, sourcing an anonymous league executive.
The Rockets, Clippers and Mavericks have also been linked to Iguodala to various degrees.
“We will trade him, period,” an executive with the team told Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus. “We’ve gone far enough into the structure of deals with more than one team to say that [confidently].”
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Ja Morant, Grizzlies Call Out Andre Iguodala Amid Trade Speculation