Sources: Houston has started contacting teams about trading Dwight Howard

Should've known the bot would have this up before mere mortal man.

My bad.

 

Houston is stuck with him, for reasons Lowe laid out.

30 years old
Declining
About to enter free agency
Wants max deal (starting at $30M)
Knee/back/shoulder injuries

Everything working against him.

Lowe: "No team is a Dwight Howard away from vaulting into Warriors/Spurs/Cavs/Thunder territory"

(Me): Even a hypothetical trade to Cleveland doesn't put them over the top/able to beat Golden State

Miami: Lowe: "Miami has questions about Howard's character and fit"
NO: Asik & Anderson for Howard
WAS: Gortat + filler + pick OR young player
ATL: Lowe: "Doesn't fit Mike Budenholzer's system, he's older than Horford, and he's eligible for an even larger max contract."

 

Trading for Dwight is loaded gun for any team, it would be foolish to trade half of your starters and pick for someone who may not resign with you and is in decline.

It's going to be hard to unload him for alot of valuable pieces unless a team is desperate or in tank mode.

 

I struggle to see a good move to make with Howard honestly. Asik and Ryan Anderson I guess would be interesting and I could definitely get behind having Gortat on the team, but none of those are needle movers. You are making those moves really to try to keep flexibility next year while still having a complete team to pitch to Durant.

However, like Charlie P keeps saying on 790, why would Durant leave OKC for a "broken" team like the Rockets. Why would Durant leave money on the table to go to a worse team?

Durant to Houston is a pipe dream.

 

OH YES PLEASE!!!! I thought it was just fan speculation. Thank you dear Lowe.

 

So then owners should just cancel the rest of the season and start the finals tomorrow: GSW vs. SAS

Sounds like they're driving down the market on Howard this week. He may be more valuable to DM just walking this summer for nothing. That's a lot of cap space to help retool this 'broken' roster.

Pellies scenario involving Anderson/Asik does sound intriguing.

 

BTW one day Lowe says it's very real Atlanta shopping Horford and the next he posts that many think it's just fishing and they believe he will resign due to the extra year.. hm


Btw if Horford values that much the extra year that gives huge leverage to Atlanta. Ainge will have much less chance to sign him in FA. So he's not a rental. And he will be perfect for Stevens system. Too bad they have to pony up.

 

Thing that sucks about the NBA. Getting competitive for a title is harder than the other two sports. Harden is one of the 10 best players in basketball, but the odds are we will never even make a finals appearance in his prime, let alone win a title.

 

If Atlanta doesn't happen---if, say , hypothetically, Dwight + KJ + "Whatever Else" for Horford and Teague doesn't flip Atlanta's skirt up, I'd be okay with Gortat + Dudley and such (given that we'd be left with a disinterested Dwight for what games we have left until his summer free agency and then....POOF!). Don't know if the Rockets would go for the Wiz deal.

That's pretty much it right there. Don't let Houston know you're interested. Offer pocket lint. If they walk away, up the ante to bread crumbs and a couple quarters.

 

Man Maori needs to find a way to get Ryan Anderson.

 

That's very true, but anything (esp. injuries) can happen in the postseason.

I'd think 2nd tier teams would at least try to be aggressive instead of conceding to GSW/SAS. Ideally, teams should always put themselves in positions to be opportunistic (not just during the draft/trade deadline, etc.) to win.

Our Rockets last postseason would be a case in point, IMO.

 

Jordan might just be stupid enough to mortgage his future for Dwight.

I don't think he's THAT stupid but let's hope.

 

I'd take that deal and RUN.

Gortat, Oubre + fillers = win for Houston.

Having a quality center locked in for 12 mill would do wonders for the Rockets cap space in free agency.

 

i love how chris broussard talks about dew white like he actually knows something.

 

Gortat is ****.

 

NBA posteseason is not like NFL or MLB where teams get hot and go runs to win the titles.

There have been 16 champions in the 2000s. Of them, 8 were the # 1 seed in the NBA, 12 of them were either the #1 or #2 record in the entire NBA and the other 4 were all the #3 record in the NBA. 12 of the 16 titles have been won by just 3 teams (LA, SA and Miami) with Golden State looking to capture 2 and being one of the historically best teams of all time.

In the 2000s, only two teams made the Finals without having one of the top 3 records in the NBA, and both lost.

Anything "can" happen in the playoffs but it never actually "does" happen.

Edit: The numbers are worse if you include the 90s with the lone exception of the 6th seeded Rockets.

In the 1990s the #1 or #2 seed in the NBA won every single title except one, when the Rockets won it as a 6th seed which was sort of fluky (that they were 6, not that they won.) The #1 seed won 7 out of 10 titles.

 

This is what I'm saying. I understand that Bosh's injury is serious and possibly career ending, but is Riley really just going to "pull the plug" or is he going to continue clawing and scratching to contend. We're all very pragmatic people here but they've got tickets to sell and money to make. Their roster isn't anywhere near lottery bound even without Bosh. So they can either do nothing and race to the middle, attempt to claw their way to the top, or tank for a few seasons and hope they can find another franchise player (or two). What do you think Riley is more likely to do?

 

There's a lot of speculation that KD will return to OKC on just a one year deal (like LeBron has been doing). Then in 2017 he AND Westbrook will make one team very lucky

Related to this, this is why anyone who suggests we should trade Harden is absolutely clueless.

 

Heck why would KD even come here if Harden (from what I've heard) is 60% likely to leave once his contract is up.

 

Bosh may be out for good if he has another clot. I think Riley knows something.