[Zierlein] Dwight Howard doesn't want you Houston, so let's move on

Dwight is the second most impactful player in the NBA behind Lebron. And really, that makes him the second best player in the NBA. You can't pass up the opportunity to trade for the second best player in the NBA. And he's the single guy that nullifies the effectiveness of all these big wings slashing and finishing at the rim. If he is available, you've got to get him.

 

Screw Dwight. Adding him still doesn't make the Rockets title contenders anytime soon. There's no problem with rebuilding.

 

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/222188/The_Dwight_Trade_Orlando_Needs_To_Seek

While rumors linking Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets have become a cottage industry of their own, none of the proposed deals make much sense for the Orlando Magic. In dealing Howard, Orlando should look for a package similar to the one David Stern got the New Orleans Hornets for Chris Paul: a star-caliber talent, a high draft pick and no long-term salary obligations.

For a small-market franchise rebuilding from the loss of a Hall of Fame player, the worst possible outcome is a team capable of contending for a No. 8 seed. The only way to replace a talent like Howard is at the top of the NBA draft, which is why Orlando should focus on bottoming out after Howard’s departure.

Lottery picks should be an essential part of any trade package the Magic receive. The Cleveland Cavaliers turned their franchise around when they picked up the Los Angeles Clippers' unprotected first-round pick in 2011, which turned into No. 1 overall selection Kyrie Irving. With the Clippers' pick, as well as their own (No. 4 overall selection Tristan Thompson), the Cavaliers accelerated their post-LeBron James rebuilding process.

The unprotected pick the Hornets received from the Minnesota Timberwolves only ended up being No. 10 overall, but it gave New Orleans the chance to find another lottery talent around Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis. Now, with the Hornets likely to spend at least one more year in the lottery, they’ll have a chance to grow as many as four elite young players together. None were on their roster last year, when a Chris Paul led team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

In contrast, the rumored deal Orlando would receive from Brooklyn would contain only three or four late first-round picks. Even worse, a team that still had Jameer Nelson, Brook Lopez, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis and JJ Redick would have enough talent to push the Magic into the back end of the lottery.

Sending Howard to Brooklyn would be a best-case scenario for the enigmatic center and the NBA as a whole, as it would create a legitimate rival for LeBron’s Miami Heat in the biggest media center in the US. However, none of that should concern Orlando, who would be paying Lopez, Nelson and Turkoglu a lot of money for an outside shot at the playoffs.

The reality is, once the Nets acquired Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, they were removing any financial incentive Orlando would have to deal them Howard. If Howard's representatives insist that Brooklyn is the only acceptable destination, they should find other teams willing to eat some of the Magic’s bad contracts (Turkoglu, Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon) and give Lopez a max deal. There’s certainly no reason for the Magic to overpay Lopez and lock themselves into the mediocrity treadmill just to satisfy Howard.

Howard implying that he will only sign a long-term deal with Brooklyn is a bluff; the Nets don’t have any cap room. If the team with his Bird Rights won’t play ball, he can’t go there. That doesn’t mean Orlando should keep him, but they have a lot more options than just Brooklyn’s package.

From a talent standpoint, the best one out there is still a deal with the Lakers for Andrew Bynum, but acquiring Bynum at this point, with only a year left on his contract, wouldn’t be a lot of time to convince him to stay in the Magic Kingdom long-term.

The best possible deal for Orlando is with the Houston Rockets, a franchise that has been acquiring assets for years precisely for the chance to grab a superstar like Howard. Houston, if they are willing to gamble on picking up Howard without an extension, would give the Magic their best chance to accelerate the rebuilding process. The Rockets have a first-round pick from the Toronto Raptors, who are probably still at least one year away from playoff contention, the cap space to eat some of Orlando’s bad contracts as well as some extremely intriguing high-upside young players locked into rookie scale deals.

The Magic should want all three of Houston’s 2012 first-round picks -- Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White. Lamb, a smooth 6’5 shooting guard with a 6’11 wingspan, has a chance to be an All-Star caliber SG; Jones, an athletic 6’9 240 combo forward with a 7’2 wingspan, is a Josh Smith clone and White, an athletic 6’8 270 point forward with a 7’0 wingspan, is a poor man’s LeBron.

There are some off-court concerns with all three, which is why they slipped out of the lottery, but they would combine to make less money than Lopez and their maturation process would keep Orlando firmly in the cellar in their first two years in the NBA. A deal centered around the three rookies and Toronto’s lottery pick would also give the Magic at least two more chances at a high lottery pick of their own (from their record in 2012 and 2013). It would be a clean slate after Howard’s departure.

If they play their cards right, Orlando could have a future as bright as New Orleans. The rumored deal with Brooklyn, on the other hand, would consign them to becoming one of the NBA’s backwaters for most of the next decade.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/article/222188/The_Dwight_Trade_Orlando_Needs_To_Seek#ixzz20BegL57f

 

Great point about the Rockets and their 3 intriguing draft picks on low rookie salaries. Such a good point that it seems a pity to lose them.

 

Lets build a team through the draft like the Thunder did. It is going to take patients but I feel that is the best way to build a championship team in Houston. Miami and LA can build championship teams through freeagency but that is not the norm around the league. Draft Draft Draft. The one thing Morey has shown us he can do well is evaluate talent in the draft. He has almost annually picked out talent late in drafts. In a league where most picks outside the lottery never see the floor he got Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, Chandler Parsons, and Aaron Brooks later in drafts. He also picked off Lowry from the end of the Grizzlys bench, swung Bud for a 1st rounder, got Dragic from the suns with a 1st round pick, and bought out Scola from the Spurs. Not to mention swinging T-mac and Carl Laudry in a trade with the Kings and Knicks. All deals that I believe favored the Rockets. We have since traded or failed to resign all of these players except Parsons and Scola, but these examples display Morey's aptitude for evaluating talent. Now that we are entering a rebuilding mode I see no reason that Morey cant land us a star in the draft if we obtain high enough lotto picks.

 

Hopefully Orlando finds them equally intriguing

 

One can only hope! I wouldn't mind seeing them develop, though, right here in Houston.

 

No. Way.

 

sources close to my camp (radio flash from boston's 98.5 the hub) is saying the michael jordan has come through in the clutch like he did against the j*zz. Apparently reached out to humphries for a three year deal. this could throw a king kong wrench into the russian mobster's assault right?

 

I'll take Dwight for 25 draft picks please.

 

Well now that Zierlein doesn't want him, I want Howard even more.

 

DaneB,
Thanks for posting the RealGm article. Reading it, one can't help but think, if our picks and rookies are so appealing (could expidite an Orlando rebuild), and Orlando is trading Howard because he won't sign a long-term extension, why in the hell is Houston willing to bet all of these assets on a guy who says the same thing about Houston: he doesn't want to sign an extension? It really is a head scratcher. I'm struggling to understand what the counter arguement is.

To that point, all i've heard from the pro-Howard crowd is that we will somehow convince him to stay, or that we will hold him hostage over the money advantage. Neither are very good arguements. Convincing him to stay is completely out of our control, and would, at the very least, require putting all-star pieces around him immediately. That's virtually impossible. As far as holding him hostage to the money advantage, forcing a disgruntled guy who is coming off of major back surgery to play in a city he doesn't want to be in over money can create a host of problems. He might take his time coming back. He might be bad for chemistry in the locker room. He might demand a trade. He might actually take less money and leave. He will inspire a media circus that doggs our team and organization as long as he is here. All of these things are possible. It never ends well when a player doesn't want to be with a particular organization.

So why not use our assets for our own rebuilding effort. If they're good enough to give Orlando a shot in the arm and a fresh start, why aren't they good enough for us?

 

"I’m glad Daryl Morey didn’t trade for Dwight Howard."

The game is not over yet, the rockets still has a chance for good or bad.

 

This is why I don't get the excessive crying and complaining. Either were gonna be good or bad while developing our youngins. Isn't that what everyone has been wanting ?

 

Rolls Royce and Chandler Parsons > Dwight Howard

 

You do not want to date a girl who is not willing to marry you, or you just want to waste your time, effort and money to play around with someone.

 

I guess it depends on how fun the playtime will be.

 

Throughout most of civilized history, and in many parts of the world even today, marriages have been arranged without consent of those getting married. And the couples eventually get used to each other, understand the financial, social, and other conditions that brought about the marriages, and end up living normal, happy lives.

Just because a girl reject you at first sight doesn't mean any further association is pointless.

 

Agree with the last sentance, but as you know, here in the good ol' U.S. of A., arranged marrages are not the norm. :grin: