USA TODAY: The Golden State Warriors landed free agent small forward Andre Iguodala on a four-year, $48 million deal, two people with knowledge of the agreement told USA TODAY Sports.
In order to clear the necessary cap space for the move, the Warriors agreed on a trade that will send Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush to the Jazz. Golden State gets guard Kevin Murphy while giving the Jazz first round picks in 2014 and 2017 as well as two second-round picks. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.
Once Iguodala showed a serious interest in joining the Warriors, they attempted to engaged his former team, the Denver Nuggets, in a possible sign-and-trade but were rebuffed. That left them only with the option of clearing space to bring him to town.
Yet while they aggressively pursued the salary relief that comes with unloading the combined $24 million in expiring contracts from Biedrins, Jefferson and Rush, the trade discussions were widely assumed to have been a way to land free agent center Dwight Howard.
Yet as was reported by USA TODAY Sports earlier Friday, the plan in place was to land Iguodala first and then hope a chance remained of enticing Howard. A person with knowledge of the Warriors' situation said they have not bowed out in the running for Howard, whose decision is expected to come soon.
If he surprised the masses and chose the Warriors, they could only land him if they were able to execute a sign-and-trade with the Lakers in order to do so. While the Lakers are under no obligation to cooperate, Howard has the possible leverage that comes with the idea that he could simply threaten to go to the Houston Rockets instead and leave them with the idea that they lost him for nothing in return.
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