The Grizzlies have a player still considered among the top 100 in the NBA by Sports Illustrated and are villains for trying to maximize his presence on their roster?

That's an idea floating around NBA circles this week after a one-sided report from The Athletic's Shams Charania on Andre Iguodala's status swept through Twitter on Monday night.

The Grizzlies, according to Charania, are "refusing right now to engage" in buyout talks with Iguodala, which "would prevent Iguodala from finishing a Hall of Fame career on his terms because this may be his final NBA season."

It's easy to sympathize with Iguodala, who is a well-respected former NBA Finals MVP nearing the end of a great career and now seemingly stuck on a rebuilding team.

But as you sympathize with him, consider pointing your pitchforks toward Golden State, not Memphis.

After all, it's the Warriors who threw Iguodala and a future first-round draft pick at Memphis so they could clear cap space to take D'Angelo Russell from Brooklyn in a sign-and-trade that sent Kevin Durant to Brooklyn.

At best, the move was a necessity for a Golden State team looking to retool amid Durant's crushing departure.

In reality, it might have been a rushed, misguided attempt to bolster a roster losing its championship luster.

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Either way, Golden State did something that should be worse for its reputation than anything the Grizzlies do with Iguodala from here.

They shoved one of the iconic pieces of their dynastic run out the door to a rebuilding team in Memphis — along with a valuable draft asset — for nothing so they could make room for a shinier, young player in Russell who is a peculiar fit in a Stephen Curry-Klay Thompson back court.

Iguodala helped Golden State win three NBA titles after choosing a four-year contract with the franchise in 2013 over a five-year deal with Denver.

And after six seasons of accepting a lesser offensive role for the Warriors than he would have played on virtually any other team in the league, Golden State tossed the 35-year-old vice president of the National Basketball Players Association out the door to a non-contender in a small market when he had just one year and $17 million left on his contract.

"We thank Andre for all of his contributions and look forward to seeing his number in the rafters at Chase Center," the Warriors said in a July statement after the transaction became official.

Retiring Iguodala's jersey is a nice tribute, but trading him to Memphis was a strange way to honor his legacy.

Make no mistake. It would be simpler for everyone, even the Grizzlies, for Memphis to buy out Iguodala before training camp and let him sign with a contender.

Several teams are likely ready to pounce on a player of his caliber who continues to play more than 60 games per season well into his 30s.

Plus, the Grizzlies already won the Iguodala trade by getting a future first-round draft pick. Memphis also would free up more cap space by buying Iguodala out and could use his roster spot to keep a young player like Bruno Caboclo, who could develop into a useful player.

But if the Memphis front office believes it can get a return for Iguodala that is more valuable than Caboclo — or whoever the odd man out would be with Iguodala on the roster — it has every right to wait until the right move materializes.

Doing so will get the franchise blasted by some. But the critics should remember who put him in this situation.

It was the Golden State Warriors. Not the Memphis Grizzlies.

All you have to do is look at the Grizzlies' recent history to deconstruct a narrative framing the franchise in a negative light when it comes to its handling of revered veterans.

It twice did with its iconic players what Golden State failed to do with Iguodala.

The Grizzlies traded Marc Gasol to the eventual NBA champions in Toronto last season. Then they traded Mike Conley to a Western Conference contender in Utah.

Memphis is going to retire the jerseys of Conley and Gasol one day, just like the Warriors will do with Iguodala.

The Grizzlies also honored the contributions of Conley and Gasol by trading each to a place where he can end his career with dignity and purpose.

Golden State could have done the same with Iguodala. Why is it the Grizzlies' problem that they didn't?

Reach Grizzlies beat writer David Cobb at david.cobb@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @DavidWCobb.