Los Angeles Lakers: Don’t expect Andre Iguodala to get bought out

Andre Iguodala would be a great addition to the Los Angeles Lakers and there is hope that he will get bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies, although I would not expect it to happen any time soon.

After Kawhi Leonard decided to choose the Los Angeles Clippers over the Los Angeles Lakers, the latter team got to work and used up the rest of the cap space that was initially being saved for Leonard.

The result of that cap space is a deep-enough rotation that is built to get through the grind of the regular season. With key additions such as Danny Green and DeMarcus Cousins, the Lakers could be much more dangerous than anticipated.

There is one more roster spot available on the Los Angeles Lakers that is being reserved for a potentially big addition. The Lakers are saving that final spot for Andre Iguodala, with hopes that the Memphis Grizzlies will buy out Iguodala’s contract.

The Golden State Warriors gave Iguodala away for free and even traded draft picks to the Grizzlies to take on the last year and $17.1 million on his contract. This was made to make space for D’Angelo Russell, who will probably end up getting flipped for other assets at some point this year.

Now, the Grizzlies are suddenly in the market to buy Iguodala out. They really do not need him and would be giving valuable minutes to the young guys to Iguodala instead. We see this kind of thing happen all the time.

However, the Grizzlies are first going to explore trading Iguodala, which they should. Iguodala may be far past his prime but he is still a playoff experienced veteran with a knack for coming through in the biggest moments.

His defensive efforts and postseason performance alone are worth trading for. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they just cannot afford to take on his salary.

So the team is hoping that he gets bought out but quite frankly, there is absolutely no way that the Memphis Grizzlies buy him out, now or ever. And as a result, Iguodala will likely never be a Laker.

The Grizzlies have no reason to be inclined to buy him out instead of trading him. They would have to pay him anyway and he really would not be blocking any of the significant young players.

Some team is going to give something up for Iguodala, whether it is now or it is at midseason. Some team is going to offer a collection of second-round picks or maybe even a very protected first-round pick to get Iguodala to bolster a postseason push.

There will eventually be a trade suitor for Iguodala, especially considering he is still a very effective player. The team would be extremely foolish to simply let him go to potentially get Grayson Allen more minutes.

The Grizzlies received draft picks for taking on Iguodala and likely are going to get some for trading him in the future. And unfortunately, that takes the Los Angeles Lakers out of the equation.