[Local Orlando News] Dwight Howard trade could be imminent

this is my greatest fear.

 

K Mart, Jones, Lamb and picks for Dwight and Richardson. That's a plausible trade, that line-up wouldn't be "fiction."

 

i don't have any way of knowing if that's a plausible trade or not. But neither does anyone else but Morey and the Orlando GM. What i do know is that penciling in Lee and Asik into the lineup at this point, is a leap of faith.

 

Protection on picks could be the biggest hold up.

Some people say Morey should get the Dwight deal done at all cost...

But our picks need to be protected if they are going to Orlando. It simply is no deal if Orlando hopes to steal a potential top 5 pick from Houston in 2014 should Dwight leave.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Cleveland is out as a third-team trade partner in a possible Orlando-Brooklyn deal for Dwight Howard, sources tell Y! Sports.</p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/222751757602783232" data-datetime="2012-07-10T17:58:52+00:00">July 10, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

By the way, am I the only one that doesn't get the Atlanta infatuation? Even if they're willing to trade without an extension, I don't see that their deal is all that different than Brooklyn's. Because honestly, Al Horford isn't worth much more than Brook Lopez. They're both good-but-not-great big men, each coming off severe injuries and signed to near-max contracts.

The limitations on Lopez are more obvious, since people tend to fixate on rebounding with big men. But Horford has his, too. He's had all of one season above 15 PPG or 20 PER (each barely), and no seasons with 10 rebounds/game. He's not a shotblocker or any kind of defensive presence, either. In short, Horford is your classic 13/10 "lunch pail" guy. Nice to have on your team, no doubt, especially if you have stars around him. But it doesn't make sense to rebuild around a role player getting paid $12 mil/year for the next four years.

And like Brooklyn, picks from Atlanta (with Howard) are non-lottery picks. Even the Rockets pick that Atlanta now owns is lottery-protected. If Hennigan is who I think he is, he's like Morey in the sense that his rebuilding blueprint consists of three priorities: stars, cap relief, and high draft picks/prospects. Horford and the Hawks are more likable than Lopez and the Nets, but the end result is the same: it doesn't make sense for Orlando. At least not to me.

 

We can't. Our 2013 pick belongs to the Hawks (via the Nets). Can't trade consecutive picks. It is one of the really sucky things about having not sent that pick yet.

 

Good point, I forgot about Bynum. I really do think Morey can snag him in FA for the max.

 

Wow...didn't realize that would keep us from trading.

So we are forced to hold off on trading our first rounder as long as ATL holds that lotto protected pick?

 

If they could make that happen... i'd be down with that. Add Dwight/Josh Smith this year and then add CP3 next year..

But our supporting cast would be terrible and those 3 players alone would take up a BIG CHUNK of our cap space. Would have to go after vet min. players and undrafted NBDL type players to fill the roster - which i'd be ok with if we had Dwight/JSmith/CP3 - and all were WANTING to play here.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I think YoYo or Bima posted something that if the Asik offer is matched then we would be able send the QO again and make Lee a RFA again. But, it's not likely to have both on the team, you're right.

 

I agree Horford is overrated, but he's still valuable. Jeff Teague is solid, assuming last year wasn't a fluke. If they were willing to give up Josh Smith, it would certainly make it more interesting.

 

Spoiler

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-LrotDbi3d4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

re: 3rd team: Cavs out, ''Cats not in the mix.'

 

I like your points, and you're right: we on the GARM have not spent the time criticizing and analyzing the deficiencies in the Hawks trade chips like we have the Nets.

The one thing I'll say in favor of the Hawks as a possible trade partner though is that they have a much greater ability to help Orlando cut cap space for next season by offering expiring contracts -- but that does not say much since the Nets have no ability in that regard.

 

Yeah, Smith to me is the key. If he were in the deal, it would be intriguing for the Magic, considering Orlando could flip him elsewhere for picks/prospects. But I have a hard time seeing Atlanta pull the trigger on a deal unless Smith stays, thereby giving them a better shot to keep Dwight. It just doesn't seem in the Hawks' DNA to take a risk like that, though there's not much track record on Danny Ferry.

And if Smith isn't in it, I think the Rockets' offer is much more attractive for Orlando than Horford/Teague/picks.

 

Just RT'd by Woj


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Magic">#Magic</a> have been talking to other teams all along. I'm not sure anything has changed on the Dwight Howard front.</p>&mdash; Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins/status/222742886654029825" data-datetime="2012-07-10T17:23:37+00:00">July 10, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Can someone explain what first round picks we CAN offer? Our pick next year is up in the air (depending on whether we miss the playoffs) and our Toronto pick is also conditional. Does this mean we can't offer the following year's pick too because we don't currently have next year's pick with certainty?

 

We can't offer our own first rounder at all. It's locked up because it is owed to Atlanta via Brooklyn. Until they are paid on that pick we can't trade another one to ensure we don't trade back to back picks.

However, we can trade the TOR and DAL picks just like NJ traded our pick away to ATL.