It Sure Sounds Like the Grizzlies Don’t Like Andre Iguodala

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: The young Grizzlies take a shot at a veteran, two Raptors argue about fashion and more.

They didn’t hold anything back

Andre Iguodala makes more money than anybody else on the Grizzlies and he hasn’t appeared in a single game for Memphis. The Warriors dumped his contract by offering the Grizzlies a future first-round pick this summer and the expectation had been that Memphis would flip him to a contender. Instead, he’s languished on the bench, waiting for a move to be made. 

The trade deadline is coming up on Thursday and there still hasn’t been any serious movement toward a deal for Iguodala. If he doesn’t get moved before the deadline, Iguodala would rather sit out the rest of the season than suit up for the Grizzlies, The Athletic’s David Aldridge reported Monday. 

At least a few players would be happy to see Iguodala go. Asked about the veteran’s trade demand after Monday’s win over the Pistons, Dillon Brooks made it clear he wouldn’t shed any tears if Iggy left. 

Everything Dillon Brooks said about Andre Iguodala tonight. pic.twitter.com/1rDw0P2wp2

— Mark Giannotto (@mgiannotto) February 4, 2020

Star rookie Ja Morant also weighed in on the situation but in the kind of way you’d expect from a 20-year-old—with emojis, GIFs and hashtags. 

🗣 https://t.co/3q56BwIxBa

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) February 4, 2020

He also “liked” a tweet that read simply, “F--- Iguodala.”

When Stephen Curry weighed in by posting a photo of his former teammate holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy, Morant responded by posting an image of Kevin Durant with the NBA Finals MVP award. 

So it’s clear where the young guys on the team stand on the issue but veteran Jae Crowder is a little more sympathetic towards Iguodala. 

“I would like to keep a lot of stuff in house but we respect what he’s done. He’s a Hall of Famer. In my eyes, he’s a Hall of Famer. He’s proven in this league, so as long as he handled it like a professional, I believe he is,” Crowder said after the game.

"I would not say that he’s been a distraction at all. Like I said, he hasn’t been here. But we respect what he wants at this time of his career, and you have to respect it.”

The Grizzlies are in the midst of a pretty remarkable turnaround. After finishing 33–49 last year, they’re 25–25 and hanging on to the last playoff spot in the West. They’re a fun, young team and will be locked in a tight playoff race the rest of the way. That seems like a pretty exciting and rewarding situation for a guy like Iguodala to be in (kind of like Chris Paul in OKC) but you can understand if he’s been spoiled by his time with the Warriors and would like an opportunity to play in another Finals. The Grizzlies will get on just fine without him. 

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