Andre Iguodala’s shooting woes

Andre Iguodala is one of the greatest glue guys in the league, but his inability to hit shots might hurt the Warriors in the playoffs.

Andre Iguodala is one of the best bench players in the league, an elite wing defender and strong offensive facilitator when healthy. He’s been incredibly important in the Warriors’ small-ball lineups, often drawing the toughest assignments on the defensive end.

But Iguodala is aging: he’s almost thirty-four, and some of his athleticism is waning. Always a streaky offensive player, he’s begun this season with some of the worst shooting in his career.

Last season, Iguodala quietly posted an efficient year, finishing with a career high 62% True Shooting percentage and a 36% rate from three-point range. He has never been a big-time scorer for Golden State, so being efficient is key.

This season has been a real struggle for him shooting the ball: he’s hitting only 23% of his threes, and has a career low 49% TS. He has no confidence in his shot, and it really destroys the Warriors’ spacing, especially in recent weeks without Stephen Curry.

This doesn’t seem to be a product of aging, but rather a months-long loss of confidence is his shooting form. I think it could very well return before the end of the season, but it may be time to think of Iguodala’s inevitable decline in coming years, especially if his shooting never fully returns.

Iguodala still does so much on the court: he passes well and rarely turns the ball over. He still defends at a high level. But without the spacing of hitting open threes his effect is really diminished.

Stephen Curry’s return will help the entire offense, and Iguodala may benefit most of all. He’ll find open threes and open lanes to the rim, and that may be enough to kickstart his offense. He just has to keep shooting the ball.