Two days before the free agency period officially begins, Andre Iguodala’s future with the Warriors remains unclear.
Assuming that Kevin Durant takes a slight pay cut this offseason, the Warriors will have reportedly $10-12 million contract to offer Iguodala for the next two or three years. But with a handful of other teams reportedly interested in offering the veteran much more on the open market, and Iguodala rightfully interested in hearing those offers, there is no guarantee that the 2015 NBA Finals MVP will be with Golden State next season.
Then there’s today’s report that Warriors owner Joe Lacob is concerned with how re-signing Iguodala to a multi-year deal could affect the Warriors’ tax bill moving forward, and that Andre will begin fielding offers at midnight on Saturday, via Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Sources: Warriors’ luxury tax moving forward is concern for Golden State and owner Joe Lacob in re-signing Andre Iguodala.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2017
With Iguodala open to leaving Warriors and league interest accelerated, he plans to field offers at midnight Saturday, league sources say. https://t.co/TVUs6GFwkz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2017
As pointed out by Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group, this is likely a power play on the part of Iguodala to get a three-year deal, something Lacob would like to avoid, as doing so would put the Warriors in the repeater-tax, which will come with a significant monetary penalty. Weather this point of contention could actually be a deal breaker remains to be seen, but it shows the the two parties haven’t yet nailed down a deal, something that has been previously hinted at.
Either way, the closer we get to free agency, the more Iguodala’s future with the Warriors seems uncertain.