The Golden State Warriors’ franchise has been in flux since early Sunday evening, with Kevin Durant choosing to join the Brooklyn Nets in free agency.
Now, the Warriors are reconstructing their roster in the aftermath of Durant’s departure.
The Warriors reportedly traded Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Golden State will also send Memphis its 2024 protected first-round pick and two other future draft picks.
The move to trade Iguodala comes after the Warriors reportedly did a sign-and-trade with the Nets to bring D’Angelo Russell to Golden State, per Wojnarowski. With the sign-and-trade, the Warriors will sign Russell to a 4-year, $117 million deal.
Since Russell came in on a max contract, the Warriors had to shed some of their salary. Iguodala was on the Warriors’ books for the 2019-20 season for about $17.1 million. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Iguodala was a key piece for the Warriors during their title runs. He won Finals MVP during the 2015 NBA Finals, and his ability to defend some of the league’s best players such as LeBron James was significant for the Warriors. Iguodala was arguably Golden State’s best defender after Draymond Green.
With the Warriors picking up Russell, though, they add an emerging young star. Russell played in his first All-Star game this past season, and he averaged a career-high 21.1 points per game on 43.4% shooting, along with averaging a career-high 7.0 assists a game.
