Rumors surfaced last week that Andre Iguodala was seeking a deal that would pay him $75 million over six seasons.

According to a more recent report, there’s reason to believe it, and possibly reason to believe the Sixers will cave and give him around $12 million a year to start, and that would be a huge mistake.

Ed Stefanski talks about Iguodala’s upside and has mentioned more than once that Iguodala is “only” 24. But by 24, and with four years in the league, he should already have a consistent jump shot. That he doesn’t speaks volumes to me about where he is and where he’ll go.

Iguodala’s a nice player, roughly 20 points, five rebounds, five assists a game. Unfortunately, I think that’s all he’ll ever be. To pay superstar money for a player who, at best, is a complementary piece, just feels wrong. There is no way that Iguodala, despite what he and his agent Rob Pelinka think, is worth more than Emeka Okafor ($72 million) and Luol Deng ($71 million).

The Sixers undoubtedly don’t want to lose Iguodala for nothing, which could happen if he signed the qualifying offer and played out this year. Then he’d be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

There is, however, another option – a sign-and-trade. One blog I read recently suggested sending Iguodala and Willie Green to Dallas for Josh Howard. It’s not a bad idea, and the numbers work.

But I think the Sixers might be too sold on the idea of Iguodala as something he’s not and are likely to cave in and give him the bigger deal. While it’s “just” $3 million or so more, and the numbers involved in NBA salaries seem like Monopoly money anyway, sometimes it’s the principle of the thing.