NBA Free Agency: Andre Iguodala to opt out of deal with Denver Nuggets

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made it clear that they intend to be active this offseason. After three straight losing seasons, Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert are anxious to make it back to the NBA Playoffs and many view this offseason as a crucial step in that process. Of course, we still have the NBA Draft before we even consider free agency, but it's fun to speculate about regardless.

Andre Iguodala has been a favorite hypothetical free agent target of Cavs fans for a while now. And he's finally available. According to reports, Iguodala will opt out of the final year of his contract with the Denver Nuggets. This isn't all that surprising because opting out allows Iguodala to get a longer term contract, even if he wants to stay in Denver. Once George Karl was fired by the Nuggets and Masai Ujiri left, it became even more obvious that Iguodala would opt out and at least consider his other options.

Iguodala will bypass the $15.9 million owed him next season and will be eligible to sign a new four-year deal elsewhere or sign an extension up to five years with the Nuggets.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have plenty of cap space and could make a very intriguing offer to Iguodala if they chose to go in that direction. Now, it would take a lot of money to get Iguodala in Cleveland, but I suppose it's possible. Furthermore, the Cavs would probably have to do a lot of convincing to make Iggy buy into the idea that Cleveland is a place where he can win. He just opted out from a team that won 57 games, after all.

Apart from convincing Iguodala to come to Cleveland, the Cavs would have to decide if they even want him. As I said, it would take a lot of money to sign Iguodala and it may be smarter to hold onto that cap space and make a run for LeBron James the following summer. Personally, I think the Cavs' front office will go for the latter option and wait to see how the LeBron situation plays out. Whether or not that's the right call is obviously up for debate.

Keep in mind that this is basically just me throwing an idea around and isn't based on any actual rumors about the Cavs going after Andre. All I know is that the Cavs just hired a defensive-minded head coach, Dan Gilbert wants a defense-oriented team, and Iguodala is one of the absolute best defenders in the league. It seems like all the pieces are there for the Cavs to make a serious run at Iggy, but once again, there's that #6 guy looming over any big decisions that the Cavs will make.