The Golden State Warriors have traded guard/forward Andre Iguodala and a protected first round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for forward Julian Washburn, the team announced today. As part of the trade, a traded player exception will become available to the Warriors. Under NBA rules, the Warriors will have one year to utilize the traded player exception, which is created when a player is traded to a team under the salary cap with space to absorb the contract.
“During the summer of 2013, we went through an extensive free agency process in our efforts to sign Andre Iguodala,” said Warriors Co-Chairman and CEO Joe Lacob. “At that time, we envisioned him becoming a vital part of a young, up-and-coming team with championship aspirations. As we look back six years later, we actually underestimated what his value would be to our team, both on the court and in the locker room. In what has been well-documented, Andre sacrificed for the betterment of our team and, in one of the best stories of this journey, earned NBA Finals MVP honors in 2015. He has been absolutely vital to our success during five consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals and three championships. We thank Andre for all of his contributions and look forward to seeing his number in the rafters at Chase Center.”
Iguodala, 35, appeared in 413 regular-season games (84 starts) over six seasons with the Warriors, averaging 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.08 steals in 26.7 minutes. Iguodala helped the Warriors advance to five-consecutive NBA Finals and was named Most Valuable Player during the 2015 NBA Finals. The 6’6” swingman posted averages of 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.17 steals and 29.8 minutes in 104 postseason games (40 starts) with the Warriors, ranking fourth on the team’s all-time playoff games played list.
In his 15-year career with Philadelphia, Denver and Golden State, Iguodala owns career marks of 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 33.4 minutes over 1108 games (779 starts). Originally selected by the 76ers with the ninth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Iguodala was acquired by the Warriors in a sign-and-trade, three-team deal with the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz on July 10, 2013.
Washburn, 27, appeared in 18 games (three starts) with Memphis last season, averaging 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 14.1 minutes. In 15 games (12 starts) with the G League’s Memphis Hustle, he averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.3 minutes. Overall, the 6’7” forward owns career G League averages of 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 24.6 minutes in 136 games (61 starts) with Austin and Memphis. Washburn signed a two-way deal with the Grizzlies on January 15, 2019.