Signing Andre Iguodala launched the Golden State Warriors into the stratosphere
When building a championship contender in the NBA, the most flashy acquisition is rarely the catalyst for success. In the eight days since the 2017 NBA Finals, we’ve seen a wildly reactionary flurry of conversations, as teams either try to add pieces to contend with the Warriors or bottom out and avoid matching up against them at all. But many of these teams have already made the move that will determine their future. In fact, there is no better place to look for proof of this phenomenon than at the Warriors themselves.
In the summer of 2013, the Warriors were a mere exoskeleton of what they have become. As Stephen Curry’s second contract (signed on Halloween 2012) came into effect, the Warriors were looking to add the last pieces to their core. David Lee was in the waning years of his prime, and the summer offered many valuable players. Two of the best options were Andre Iguodala and Dwight Howard, and with several options to free cap space, the Warriors took aim at both players. The steps they took to chart their future course that summer and the decision they eventually made in free agency were the ones that would elevate them to their place atop the NBA today.
The Warriors entered the summer with basically no cap space, needing to offload the contracts of at least Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson to create room. Howard and Iguodala were two of the best players in the NBA at the time, especially on the defensive end. By sending $24 million in salary (in the form of Brandon Rush and the Biedrins and Jefferson expiring contracts) to the Jazz, Golden State found a path toward offering the hefty deals each had earned.
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After being informed that they had landed in Howard’s top three, the team suddenly had an opportunity to land both players. If they could trade Andrew Bogut’s $13 million expiring deal, they would at least be in play to match both players’ asking prices. Iguodala was offered a $60 million deal by the incumbent Nuggets and a $52 million deal by former Nuggets executive Pete D’Alessandro, then the GM in Sacramento. In the end, the Warriors would land Iguodala for a discount, on a four-year deal worth only $48 million.
Armed with several good offensive players, from Curry to Lee to Klay Thompson, it was no wonder the Warriors got into the Howard sweepstakes. This was the tail end of the Dwightmare, before Houston, when Howard was still a tenacious two-way player who could dominate the paint on both ends. It was also the early stages of the NBA’s current offensive revolution, centered around motion and 3-point shooting. Howard was seen as a possible key to unlocking Golden State’s potential.
Whether attracted to the tax situation in Texas and the opportunity to play with James Harden or scared off by Curry’s ankles and Jack Nicholson’s smile, Howard chose Houston. We shouldn’t play revisionist history and say that the Warriors wouldn’t have welcomed Howard had he chosen their situation, but they are better off for it. Keeping Bogut and refocusing around Iguodala set them on the trajectory they’re riding today, 207 wins and two championships later.
With Howard on the team, maybe the Warriors decide a different coach than Steve Kerr is better for the job. Maybe they never even fire Mark Jackson. They surely don’t reach their peak that way; Draymond Green never plays a minute as a center and there’s less spacing on the court for Iguodala, Curry and Thompson to thrive. Without Bogut, the beautiful asymmetry of the Warriors’ offense never comes alive. His attitude doesn’t set the tone for the 2015 championship.
Even further back, if they don’t go all in for Iguodala in the first place, maybe they keep and extend some combination of Rush, Biedrins and Jefferson. That pushes them into cap trouble when it comes time to extend Bogut, Thompson or Harrison Barnes.
By making the smart moves to create flexibility and ultimately add Iguodala, the Warriors used the creativity that has become their trademark. The result was the ability to grow on and off the court into the superpower that has gone on to win two titles, add Kevin Durant and form a dynasty. While the rest of the league scrambles to match up with the Warriors by stuffing their books with long-term deals for big names, there are few rumors out of Golden State.
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The only thing we’re hearing out of the defending champs is that Iguodala will likely return on a discount. This is what happens when you make the right moves on the margins: You get a player who becomes Finals MVP and then re-signs below market value. Getting him the first time was a shrewd move, a steal. Getting him the second time is karmic poetry.