Skates:
I don't know if that guy on PhilaPhans was so far off...while I am OK with signing Iguodala to a 6/70 deal, I am a bit leery of giving $70 million to a guy who 1) has never played the position that he is going to play under this contract full-time (SG); and 2) who - for all of his wonderful qualities - still comes up short in two essential areas for a SG - outside/3pt shooting and his drive/handle in the halfcourt offense.
Will he eventually develop those two facets of his game to match his $70 million contract? Perhaps...but he hasn't yet, IMO.
The point of the discussion was whether Iggy can play SG. I have no doubt that he can play SG on the right team. On the Sixers we don't have shooters in a lot of other positions, hence I would tend to agree that Iggy needs to really improve his outside shooting, and drop a little bulk to add some speed back, to really fit at SG. On a team with a shooting Pg and/or shooting bigs he could play a power/point SG position with ease. Not all 2 guards are great shooters just like not all centers are low-post monsters. Had the poster in question approached the subject like that and like you are, questioning his value based on his fit at SG on this team, I would have had no problem with it. But the argument was much more sophomoric, hence, Sub's eloquent response.
Personally I think Iggy will develop into a very good three point shooter, but will never have a Korver type quick-release. His mid range game should improve and he is already a good slasher to the basket. He has a good handle in most situations, where he lacks it, as you noted, is in driving from a stand-still. I don't know that he will ever be good at that sort of isolation play drive. His initial burst dribble and first step are not explosive enough. Iggy should not be asked to be an iso-play kind of a guy or try to be one, although that happened a lot last year. When he tries to initiate offense off of his initial dribble drive he looks like a piss-poor imitation of Iverson, hence why philly fans think he sucks. However, if we took Iverson and asked him to spend his time closely guarding a decent SG he would look equally bad. The system when Iverson was here was designed to maximize his skills and minimize his strengths, like poaching the passing lanes. The system last year and Iggy's lead dog role in it were ill-suited to his talents and made him look foolish at times.
Iggy is a great athlete and a strong fundamental defender, with a good perimeter and open floor handle and significant offensive skills within the flow of a game. He can initiate the offense with a sweet pass and finish with the best of them off the pass, in addition to being an improving shooter when he is open. At SG he should also work on his post game as he will have a size/strength advantage many nights and his passing skills out of the post could be spectacular. Whether that is a good fit for this team going forward depends on how the rest of the team and system develops.
