Kobe Injured - How does this affect DHoward's Free Agency? Houston?

Because the best player in the world is being grossly underpaid by a non-free market. Lebron is worth 50$+ mil in terms of skill and value. Dwight, in his prime is worth at least 20$ if he plays close to what he used to be... A top 3 player. Not saying that I agree with the amount but the CBA really restricts the top 5 guys in the leaugue and inflates players 15-30.

 

Ha, Bill Simmons thinks he ends up in Houston.

 

Nope lebron deserves what he is getting paid. He CHOSE to take a pay cut to play in Miami

 

one thing i've wondered is do players really want a lot of input into the front office, or would they rather one they know they can trust where they get much reduced or even no input.

Draft picks aside (unless you get consecutive #1's, you're going to need some edge, or be running on a case of better lucky than good), the best 3 teams in the league were built on the back of excellent gms working almost exclusively without player input, and two of them are already well versed in avoiding luxury penalties.

To be honest, i've yet to see a team work out that did give major input to any of its players.

 

Kobe has a lot of that input that you speak on. Not as far as draft picks but other decisions yes sir

 

you didn't understand his post.. he's talking about the CBA dictating the max contract a player can get.. if you were estimating LeBron's worth to his team, he's worth a lot more than the maximum salary allowed

 

Great point.

Another point I would like to make here that I think will come into play is the Over-36 rule. This essentially caps Dwight's second contract to however many years it takes to get to 36.

In Dwight's case, it is 9 seasons after this season. Because of the effect of shifting the over-36 salary to the earlier years of the contract and the fact that Dwight is on one of those older super max deals, if he remains healthy and a force into his 30's, whatever contract he is on is most likely going to end at age 36 and a new deal will be negotiated at that point if he is still a viable NBA player. For instance if he signs a 5-yr deal to stay in LA this year, you can expect it will have an opt out after 4 years so he can be signed to a fresh 5-yr deal that ends when he is 35. Very simple and clean.

Also if he signs a 4-yr deal with Houston or some other team, it will most likely have a player opt-out after 3 years(unless Morey is really, really good) so Dwight can sign a fresh 5-yr deal with 7.5% raises after 3 years. But that leaves him 1-yr short of the nine seasons so he has to rely on Morey to extend him for one season or he has to have that opt out in the 2nd 5 yr deal so he can re-up after 4 years for an additional 2 years.

Here's the differences.

If Dwight re-signs with the Lakers, he's got to wait the extra year to opt out and complete his maximum earnings power to age 36 by signing a fresh 5-yr deal. However it is nice and clean. Just one hitch and that is getting through that 4th year healthy and productive so he can opt out for the automatic 5-yr renewal.

If Dwight signs here or elsewhere with a player option, he can opt out sooner, after 3 seasons, and lock in an additional 5 seasons. So, he only has to stay healthy and productive enough for that first 3 years to get his fresh 5-yr deal, which would be giving him more guaranteed max dollars sooner. If he has to wait another season to opt out, then that may be a season of decline that causes the Lakers or whoever he is playing for to not want to give him that fresh 5 years. And of course if Dwight is really worried about being healthy enough to make it through the next 5 seasons as a top rated player then obviously the original 5 year deal offers him more security.

So the differences between the two scenarios from Dwight's perspective are there and they are not subtle. If he goes to any other team, he's gonna have to depend on some factors to get to his maximum earnings potential all the way to age 36. He's gonna have to depend on Morey or whatever GM giving him a 1-year extension at the end of his second contract or a two-year extension after the 4th season of his second contract. That is a factor because that last season will be worth over $32 million if he changes teams next season and over $34 million if he signs a birds rights 5-yr deal this off season.

So, the odds are high that Dwight would be losing on the back end of his second deal if he signs away from the Lakers. Unless he's playing like an absolute monster at age 35, he's not likely to get a GM to give him an extension so he can get one more year added on to his second deal at his maximum possible salary. He will have to take a risk to move from the Lakers. Either he takes a risk by playing through his first 4 year deal and hoping he doesn't get hurt and can sign a fresh 5-yr deal, or he takes a risk at the end of the second deal if he opts out after 3 years and re-signs a 5-yr Birds rights contract.

That extra year that Dwight can get on two Birds rights contracts adds up to over $42 million over 9 years more than him signing away and then opting out and getting a full 8 years. So there is a substantial money risk to Dwight moving away from LA. However, it all depends on how his career develops. If he gets hurt in yr 4 after opting out and re-signing a Birds rights deal with us then he would actually be better off in that scenario than getting hurt in year 4 of a 5-yr Birds rights deal with the Lakers.

Howard has stated where he signs is not going to be about money but about winning. We are going to get the chance to see if he is true to his word.

In my opinion, I think if the Lakers see they are going to lose him that they will start negotiating a possible sign-and-trade with Brooklyn. Dwight may still prefer to go there as to sign away to Houston. The Lakers have to almost be banking on this as a last resort if Dwight doesn't re-sign with them.


All that being said, there could be quite an argument made that taking Gasol for 1 year at $19 million and then getting him to sign an extension for another 3 years or possibly a new 4 year for Tim Duncan money would a better risk. Right now, in my opinion, Pau is light-years ahead of Dwight offensively. He's at least as far ahead of Dwight offensively as Dwight is ahead of him defensively. And Pau is a good big defender. He could possibly be re-signed for a more reasonable 3-4 year contract which would allow us more salary cap flexibility going forward. I think the odds are very good that Gasol will earn his contract.

We're headed for a interesting summer after an interesting post season.

 

Brooklyn cant accept him in a s&t (their salary situation), and from all reports, deron doesn't talk to him anymore.

 

i wonder if howard would think about doing a 1 year max deal with a team he thinks he could win with and then bolt back to the lakers after they get a crap load of caproom and kobe as well. Its way out there but im trying to remember if there were any sham/shady 1 year signings in the nba

 

Dwight Howard expected back with Lakers in free agency

Spoiler

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Even before Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant went down in a heap Friday night, his season ending with the Achilles tendon pop heard 'round the basketball world, there was an expectation within the organization that Dwight Howard would eventually take over this team.

While the center who will be a free agent this summer has continued his noncommittal stance about whether he will sign with the Lakers or head elsewhere, two people close to him said they fully expect him to return. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity out of respect for Howard's decision to wait until the summer to make his final choice.

In that silver lining sense for the Lakers and their distraught fans, their playoff push that has come down to the final days of the regular season may simply a preview of the years ahead.

"It's almost like you're envisioning yourself three years from now, four years from now, what is that (like)? " Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday regarding Howard now playing without Bryant. "Well the future is now. I think he's up to the challenge."

But Howard is notorious for his indecisive ways, meaning there's always a chance his outlook could change by the time July rolls around. The Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and even the Phoenix Suns — who could make room for a maximum contract salary with a few minor roster moves — are hoping that's the case. And should Howard get lost in the Lakers' Bryant-less offense in these final two games and they fall short in the playoff push, it's safe to say that could cause him some concern in terms of how he sees Laker Land.

The financial factor certainly comes into play, as Howard's maximum extension with the Lakers would be for five years and $117.9 million while all other teams only could give him a four-year, $87.8 million contract. The smart money, it seems, is on him staying.

No one, especially not Howard, could have imagined this Lakers season being so challenging after he pushed his way out of Orlando last summer. This was the sort of stage he had longed for, a huge market where his dreams of winning a championship and becoming an icon could both be realized.

Yet those first few months, from his road back from April back surgery to the early chemistry issues between him and Bryant and a record that dipped to 17-25 on Jan. 23, seemed to hurt the Lakers' chances of holding on to the big man, whom they want as their next centerpiece. Since then there has been plenty of evidence that Howard and the Lakers can be a potent pairing for the long term.

...

Even in this worst-case scenario sort of season, with the Lakers a fringe playoff team in a season full of struggles, there's such a storied history of winning here that there's still talk of a title at this late juncture. In addition to all the off-court opportunities that come so easily in Los Angeles, that is — in a strange sense — exactly what Howard had hoped for. And even with Bryant out, Howard isn't about to change his stance that the Lakers can still win it all.

"We have a goal we want to accomplish, and we can't lose sight of our vision because a lot of guys have been down," Howard said. "It's been like that all year. Our vision is the same. We're going to continue to put forth the effort every day in practice and in the game, and also believe. We believe that we can do something special and make history, and we're not going to go into any game having any doubts because we're missing guys."

Howard, who spent parts of this season frustrated with his lack of consistent involvement in the offense that Bryant always dominated, refuted the idea that his absence means he will now take over.

"People assume that, because Kobe is out, that we all have to try to go for 30 points every night," Howard said. "That's not the case (just) because he's out. We have to play great team basketball, get everybody involved. Stats — it looks good on paper. It looks good for the highlights. But we win the game on the other end, playing defense and just going out there and going hard.

"It's not about the points that we put up, so I'm not looking to go out every night and get 60 (points). That looks good. That would be great for myself, but the main concern is just winning a championship and doing it together. I just want to win. It's that simple. I want us to win the championship and have a big turnaround from where we started this season. That's the only thing that matters to me."

...

D'Antoni has a hard time looking past the next few days because of the task at hand, but said he's confident Howard will ultimately see the many benefits of staying put come free agency time.

"You wonder a little bit (about his decision), but our whole focus and job now is to make the best of the situation right now, and then he'll make that decision and he'll make the best one for him," D'Antoni said. "But again, in my (mind) it doesn't get any better than this...You know what? You go through some stuff, but it has worked out. I'm happy with the team, where they are mentally. I'm happy with the situation and I feel pretty good about our possibilities."

 

I believe this is bogus. I personally think dwight cares more about bigger market than he does winning a ring. If winning really was most important to him, why did he privately make it known that he didn't want to go to the Thunder? At the time, thunder would have offered harden and/or ibaka as the main piece for Howard and would have been the best team in the league for the next 5+ years....

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>D12 was a beast. He stopped by the hospital twice yesterday to check on big brothat's luv <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23countond12">#countond12</a></p>&mdash; Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) <a href="https://twitter.com/kobebryant/status/323658128002514944">April 15, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Howard is garbage....if you double him quickly, he got confused and start panic. The problem w/ the Spurs, they're not doubling him until it's too late. His free throws is horrendous. If it wasn't for the rule of not allowing hack a Howard in the last 2mins, Lakers could have ended up losing.

 

Dwight isn't leaving LA, wishful thinking guys. He's "the" man in LA now. Furthermore, LA Lakers will go to the Western Conference Finals this year. You heard it hear first. Dwight ain't leaving.

 

I sincerely hope Dwight takes the extra money LA can offer him and stays now that it will be his team. I am so sick of DH to Houston rumors. I will be so glad id he signs with LA for 5 years and we no longer have to discuss this diva coming here again.

I just do not understand why so many people want this cancerous diva here with a bad back. Makes zero sense to me.

 

If Houston crushes LA in the last game and that game ends up costing the Lakers a spot in the playoffs... I would say our chances get higher.

But they actually looked somewhat decent tonight against a depleted Spurs team. Howard got to be the man and he played great and seemed like he was having fun. Honestly, there's no point guessing where he's gonna go. After the whole Orlando ordeal, he seems like a guy that changes his mind easily.

 

I think they could make it happen. The apron is most likely going up to $75-76 million. Brooklyn should be able to turn Brooks Lopez into a draft pick or two from teams like Portland and Atlanta, maybe even Dallas. Then they trade the pick(s) plus Wallace and Humphries for a re-signed Dwight. Humphries rides out his lame-duck season there and doesn't affect their cap long-term. Wallace most likely could be flipped for something else of value.

that's just one iteration of how a deal could get done with the Nets.