All-Star swingman Andre Iguodala can't wait to join his new team, the Denver Nuggets.
Shortly after the trade became official on Friday, Iguodala tweeted that he was excited to be heading to Denver. On Tuesday, he sought out the names of Nuggets on Twitter, so he could connect with his new teammates.
"This was a great year for me - making the All-Star team, leading Philly into the second round of the playoffs and winning a gold medal with our Olympic team," he said. "I'm looking forward to building off that, and I think Denver offers me a great place to do it."
Already considered one of the fastest, most athletic teams in the NBA, the Nuggets managed to get even faster and more athletic by trading shooting guard Arron Afflalo and forward Al Harrington for Iguodala.
With a promising young core of Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee in place, and with former teammate Andre Miller on the roster, the Olympic gold medalist is very optimistic about Denver's future. After all, the Nuggets did take the Lakers to seven games last May.
"I like the roster that Josh and (executive vice president of basketball operations) Masai (Ujiri) have assembled," Iguodala said. "It's a high-energy group with a lot of athleticism. I've played with Andre Miller and know how valuable a player he is. Ty (Lawson) is one of the best young point guards in the league and Danilo (Gallinari) can really stretch the defense with his shooting and can do a lot of other good things offensively. The young bigs like JaVale (McGee), (Kenneth) Faried and (Timofey) Mozgov are all talented guys who will only continue to get better."
It also should be a good fit. Nuggets coach George Karl loves to run; Iguodala loves to run. Denver loves to create offense with its defense; Iguodala is a lockdown defender who can create turnovers.
"I think my strengths as a player fit in very well with Coach Karl's system and the way he likes to play," Iguodala said. "I like a more up-tempo game, and I know this team gets up and down the floor being among the league leaders in scoring and possessions per game last year."
Opening night should be exciting for Nugget fans alike.
