The Denver Nuggets are going through an offseason of transition after losing their head coach and general manager in successive weeks and now they may lose one of their best players, as reports say that guard Andre Iguodala is planning on opting out of his contract.
According to ESPN.com, Iguodala will be opting out of the final year of his contract next season to become a free agent and that means the Nuggets may lose yet another piece from last season's franchise best team. The Nuggets already decided to part ways with head coach George Karl and with general manager Masai Ujiri also leaving, the 57-win team from last season is in a big transition phase. With Danilo Gallinari coming back from an injury, next season will be tough to start off for the Nuggets depending who they bring in as head coach.
Iguodala was acquired by the team in the trade with the Philadelphia 76ers that also included Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum and he had an excellent year, averaging 13 points, 5.4 assists and 5.3 assists while being the best defender on the team. As a free agent, Iguodala has a chance to sign a five-year contract with Denver or he can head elsewhere for a four year deal, including back to his former team if he wishes. Iguodala will be a prime target in free agency and he joins names like Dwight Howard and Chris Paul as the top options.
The Nuggets are in transition after losing in the first round to the warriors after being one of the best teams in the league and having the best home record and they also lost the executive of the year in Ujiri. Iguodala is a prime candidate for a big deal, as he is young, can score and is an excellent defender and if the Nuggets want to keep him, they will need to pay up.
The Nuggets may bring in Lionel Hollins after his time with the Grizzlies and while Gallinari will be out for a while, it will be less than expected and that could sway Iguodala to stay and sign a new contract. Karl was the coach of the year and now the Nuggets need two new important executives to take over the team. Howard and Paul are expected to sign big deals and while Paul is likely going to stay in LA, Howard is expected to move teams to the Warriors, Rockets, Mavericks or Hawks, where he could be joined by Paul. There also could be an interesting dynamic if Howard joins Iguodala somewhere.
