Iggy
"You might wanna kiss me goodbye…"

Sixers news does exist!

After a minor blip on Friday regarding a potential Andre Iguodala trade for Hedo Turkoglu, the new rumor is another trade involving Iggy. But this time, it seems to have a bit more life.

ESPN's Ric Bucher is saying that the Sixers and the Golden State Warriors are discussing a deal that would send Iguodala to the West Coast in exchange for the Warriors' leading scorer, Monta Ellis.

Although such a move would mean the tragic end of our Portrait of a Leader series ::tear::, it would be a clear sign that the Sixers are willing to move on and begin a new era with the team… sort of.

While Ellis is not as good as Iguodala is defensively, he certainly serves as more of an impact scorer. The trade will also save the Sixers more than $10 million over the next three seasons, but the contract of Elton Brand will continue to be a finanicial handcuff for the team until his deal expires after the 2012-13 season.

My feeling is that Sixers fans are excited about this move because it's something different and/or they're frustrated with the decision making they've seen from Iguodala in the past. However, Jordan Sams of Liberty Ballers makes a compelling argument that the Sixers already have an Ellis-like player on their roster. Sams compared the numbers of Ellis and Sixers guard Lou Williams and calculated what they would look like if both players logged similar playing time. Below were his findings:

Per 36

Ellis – 21.5 points, 5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals

Williams – 21.2 points, 5.2 assists 3.1 rebounds, 1.0 steal

The only significant advantage Monta had over Lou is his field goal percentage of 45, opposed to 41 for Lou. However; when free throws and threes are factored in, the players' true shooting percentages are identical. Lou got to the line 2.5 more times per 36, and shot a slightly better percentage (82% to 79%). He also made 0.3 more threes per 36, but shot a slightly lower percentage than Monta (36% to 35%).

 

Did that rain on your parade a little bit? Sams' research made me a bit less optimistic from when I initially heard the news, but part of me would still want to get the deal done… probably because I've wanted Iggy out of here for quite some time. If not a trade for Ellis, a trade for someone else. Sometimes, something different is better than the same old thing.

What say you, Sixers faithful?