Andre Iguodala is taking his time, and that’s OK

The Golden State Warriors are still waiting on Andre Iguodala. And it looks like they’ll be waiting on him for a while longer.

And that’s perfectly OK.

Ever since NBA free agency started a month and a half ago, we’ve heard virtually nothing from Iguodala. Well, not nothing. He’s been podcasting. He’s played in golf tournaments. He cheesed for the camera at Draymond Green’s wedding this weekend.

But we haven’t heard anything about his free agency.

Iguodala made it fairly clear during the regular season that he had only two options he’d consider for the 2022-23 season: return to the Warriors, or retire. And Steve Kerr made it very clear that if Iguodala chooses the former, he’ll be welcomed with open arms.

And now we wait.

This has gained some attention — and even some ire — from the fanbase, because it’s created a sense of Iguodala holding the Warriors hostage by not letting them know what his intentions are for the upcoming season,

But in reality? It doesn’t matter. Not even a little bit.

The Dubs have 13 players under contract for next year (for those keeping score at home, it’s Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Donte DiVincenzo, JaMychal Green, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Ryan Rollins).

That’s the minimum that the team needs to keep under contract during the season, but it gives them two extra spaces to play with. Even if Iguodala had re-signed by now, the team would still be walking around with an unfilled roster spot.

The Warriors don’t seem to have an interest in filling those spots. There are barely any free agents of note left (Hassan Whiteside, anyone?), and the Dubs don’t seem interested in signing any of them to a guaranteed contract, let alone two of them.

With or without Iguodala, the plan seems to be the same: dance with the ones they got, see if a player like Quinndary Weatherspoon or Mac McClung can stand out in camp, and likely save some money by not having a full roaster. They can always add a player as the year goes on if someone gets hurt.

At some point Iguodala will have to make a choice. That time will likely be before training camp, though we can’t fully rule out an Andrew Bogut-style return for the postseason push.

But regardless of when we find out whether Andre has a 19th NBA season in him, there doesn’t need to be any urgency. The roster spot is sitting there. It’s not going anywhere. And that’s not a bad thing.