The Philadelphia 76ers may be putting one of their best players on the trade market if they fail to beat the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinals match-up.
According to Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine and Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com, the Sixers are considering dealing Andre Iguodala if the team fails to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
Philly became just the fifth team in NBA history to enter the postseason as an eighth seed and defeat a number one seed when they stunned the Chicago Bulls in six games after they lost Derrick Rose in the opening game of the series.
Iguodala is the player that hit the two clutch free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining in Game 6 to give the Sixers the lead in the game and the historic series victory.
He is also coming off a season in which he averaged 12.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in 62 games.
However, the team is still willing to part with the athletic wingman if they can get the right package or player in return.
According to the report from Kennedy, the Sixers almost moved Iggy prior to last year's draft to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package revolving around Lamar Odom.
However, Philly backed out of the trade fearing that Odom would be upset and unmotivated if he left Los Angeles. It turns out that was a great call by Philly's front office. Odom was subsequently traded to the Dallas Mavericks, who ended up releasing him in April after he blatantly quit on the team.
While Philly wasn't interested in that particular move, Kobe Bryant was apparently all for the trade, as he has been wanting the Lakers to acquire an athletic small forward for years. Iguodala would be a huge upgrade over Metta World Peace, as he can not only defend multiple positions on the defensive end, but can also still score in bunches.
While the move might cost the Lakers Pau Gasol plus some other pieces now that the league knows he is pretty much on the trade market, if they can get another decent player or two from Philly then the deal would be well worth it for Los Angeles.
Although the Lakers will surely have interest in making a trade for Iguodala, they certainly won't be the only team that makes an offer for him, as at least a half dozen other teams would be seriously interested in my opinion.
While 'Dre still has a chance to lead the Sixers past the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals, Broussard still says "there is no question about" him getting put on the market and likely moved.
So unless he has a monster performance against Boston to advance and then proceeds to have a near historic series against the Heat en route to an NBA title, it appears that Iggy's days are numbered in Philadelphia after spending the first seven years of his career there.
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