The Los Angeles Lakers have made a number of moves throughout the offseason to build their roster around their two All-Star players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Now, at this point of free agency, much of their work is done but there are still some lingering questions.
One of the biggest involves the final roster spot as the Lakers have just 14 players signed to guaranteed deals. They could add another player or continue to leave the spot open and it sounds as if the latter is more likely with a particular player in mind.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN appeared on SportsCenter and said the Lakers could be looking to sign Andre Iguodala with their open roster spot should he be bought out:
“…But leaving a spot open to potentially get Andre Iguodala if he is bought out of his 17.2 million deal.”
The question is whether or not Iguodala will actually be bought out as the Golden State Warriors dealt him to the Memphis Grizzlies in order to clear cap space so they could sign D’Angelo Russell.
Many assumed the Grizzlies — currently in a rebuild and focusing on their youth — would simply buy him out. However, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the Grizzlies would prefer to trade him and are exploring deals:
The Memphis Grizzlies do not intend to give forward Andre Iguodala a buyout before the season and are actively exploring the trade market for the former Finals MVP, league sources told ESPN. The Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are among the teams with interest in Iguodala, sources said.
At this point, it still sounds as if an Iguodala trade is more likely than a buyout. Even though he is in the final stretch of his career, Iguodala proved he can still produce at a high level when it matters most and put forth an admirable effort for the injury-plagued Warriors during the 2019 NBA Finals.
The Lakers having eyes for him makes perfect sense as he remains an excellent defender who would give them another option to throw at other team’s top players. There were prior rumblings that Iguodala had plans to join the Lakers but if the Grizzlies are intent on trading him, the Lakers could unfortunately be out of luck.
If that turns out to be the case, the Lakers will have to look elsewhere to fill out that final roster spot.
