Iguodala confident about future with Sixers
If Andre Iguodala is worried about becoming a restricted free agent next Tuesday, it certainly didn't show yesterday as he played soccer, shot some hoops and read a book to a slew of wide-eyed kids during the All-Sports Day at the Marjorie and Lewis Katz Camden County Boys and Girls Club in East Camden.And talking to him later, he said as much.
"I'm not really thinking about it," said Iguodala, who spent close to 2 hours with the children. "I just go and work out every day, try to enjoy my time off, keep working in the gym and just stay relaxed.
"When the time comes [for contract talks], it's going to come, I'm not really worried about that. Last year the talks were going back and forth and there were some frustrating days. It's going to happen, you just can't let it get you up or down. You've just got to be prepared for the season because everything else will take care of itself. I mean, I'm happy. I've got a job."
Whether that's here or in another NBA city is the, let's say, $57 million question. That's the supposed total of a 5-year extension offered to him by the team before last season. Iguodala refused the deal, figuring he would use his performance last season as leverage for a contract that would put him in the same astronomical salary range as the game's elites.
And he countered by having the best of his four seasons in the league. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals. But more than the numbers, you have to believe that Iguodala, uncovered by the blanket that was Allen Iverson, blossomed into more of a leader on a team heavily sprinkled with youngsters. A true sign of a star is making teammates better. Iguodala, along with point guard Andre Miller, certainly appeared to do that for a team that finished 40-42 after starting 18-30.
If Iguodala believes he will be playing elsewhere next season, he is masking it well. Before his appearance in Camden yesterday, he was at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine watching as the Sixers worked out potential picks in tomorrow's draft, in which the team holds the 16th overall pick.
"I went to the workout to see who they brought in," he said. "I watch a lot of college basketball, too. I have to be a little bit interested. One of those guys might be your next teammate. I think it's good to be involved a little bit, have some input and try to get a feel for the guys' personalities on the team. That's important as well."
A key cog in the Sixers' young, talented core, Jason Smith - who accompanied Iguodala to Camden - laughed out loud when asked about the anxiety draft day brought him last season. He was picked 20th by Miami, then quickly traded to the Sixers.
"There was this nervousness that set in my stomach, not knowing whether I was going to go in the first round or the second round," Smith said after charming nearly every child in attendance. "I chose not to go to the draft in New York and stayed home to watch it with my family in Colorado. The picks go by and you're thinking, 'Oh, my goodness.' Then my agent called and told me to be ready, the next few teams like you.
"When they called my name, my family went nuts and I'm looking at the TV screen and thinking, 'Wow, that's my picture up there.' "
As for whom his team might take this year, Smith gave the exact answer a player with 1 year under his belt probably should give.
"I really haven't paid that much attention to the draft," he said. "I've tried to just distance myself from it, just to try to get away from basketball. Now that I'm getting back into the swing of it [after having worked out in Atlanta with shooting coach Mark Price and teammates Rodney Carney, Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young], I think we're looking to make a good pick or trade our pick. I'm not sure what we're doing. I wish I was a little more informed about it [laughs]."
Come tomorrow, and sometime not too long after July 1, Smith, Iguodala and the Sixers' faithful should have a better idea. *
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