Al Jefferson is a star, and if Morey could get him for $8mm/year, Les should appoint him GM for life.
Look Dwight is a big attention hugger, so after last night's game does anyone really think he wants to come to Houston? Seeing all those ISOs for Harden..he's got his share of nightmare with Kobe so why move to a team with a younger image of Kobe?
Yes, because the Rockets were unwilling to feed Omer Asik in the post, that proves Dwight Howard wouldn't get his touches. Seriously? I don't think Dwight is under the impression that Omer Asik is a good offensive player.
After getting a #2/low-post scorer/finisher (all of which Dwight would satisfy) I'd say our second biggest need is a wing who can defend off the bench. If we signed Howard, would you be down to trade Asik for say, W.Matthews and Leonard, then maybe flip Robinson for a pick? D.Howard - G.Smith - M.Leonard T.Jones - D.Motiejunas C.Parsons - C.Delfino J.Harden - W.Matthews J.Lin - P.Beverley
NO...not comparing Dwight to Asik. I don't think the guy wants to be under the shadow of another player. It's not about the feeds.
You missed the point. The reason Harden got so many ISOs is because there wasn't a viable low-post option to pass into. If Dwight Howard were on the Rockets instead of Omer Asik, the amount of Harden ISOs would decline drastically, and Dwight of all people understands that.
You don't think the team the Rockets had out there last night would immediately be one of the best in the NBA, if Dwight were in the middle? Some of you drama queens are milking this way too much. Yes, we should have won. No, it's not some catastrophe. This isn't supposed to be a perfect team, and the non-Kobe Lakers aren't supposed to be awful. A healthy Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol anchoring the interior is hands down the best frontcourt in the NBA. They were also playing at home and with the benefit of homer officiating, the same setting in which they just beat the Spurs (a contender)! Oh, and the Rockets didn't lose by 40. They lost a tight game in overtime. I don't think last night affected Dwight's opinion of the Rockets much at all. We're a flawed, lower-tier playoff team as it is, and the whole world, including Dwight, knows it. The reason Dwight would sign here is what the Rockets would be with him, not what they are without him. I actually think most of you are looking at it backward. In Dwight's mind, the Rockets are the known quantity. The young core is in place, and he knows the abilities of who he'd be playing with. It's the Lakers that are the variable. There are so many questions -- his relationship with the coach, his compatibility with the current roster, what their roster will even look like beyond 2014. Now, it's certainly possible that the last few weeks of the season could sell Dwight on being able to coexist with Pau (if the Lakers keep him, that is) and play an important role in a D'Antoni scheme. And I'm sure the Staples Center environment is fun. But the jury is still out. If they go out and get embarrassed and outclassed by San Antonio, they won't have proven much of anything, and their future will be every bit as uncertain as it seemed a month ago. The Rockets aren't the team with something to prove to Dwight... that's the Lakers. Last night was a small step in the right direction, but I don't think it's anything huge.
I think there is stone cold zero chance Howard leaves LA for Houston. In the wake of Kobe's injury, my guess is the chances of him staying skyrocketed back up to 99.9%. Kobe was his biggest issue in LA (D'Antoni not helping much). Kobe being out for a minimum of 6 months, and likely being forced to relinguish his I AM THE TEAM alpha status paves the way for Howard to finally get his as the primary option in the offense. Forget any nonsense he spews about wanting the best situation to win. Orlando got him to the finals, and he was killing himself to go to Brooklyn and wanted nothing to do with San Antonio, OKC, etc. He wants his glamour city and stage. He wants his (full) max contract and his endorsement dollars. Finding the best team with the cap space to sign him is nowhere on his to do list. Kobe was infuriating enough to play with that his LA milk nearly soured. But with Kobe pushed to the side, he's not going anywhere. At most, I could see him leveraging his free agency to get D'Antoni canned. But that's about it.
Orlando got him to the Finals and he was happy. He only started "killing himself to go to Brooklyn" once it was clear Orlando's team was on the downhill and no longer a contender. P.S. The second team on his list, after Brooklyn, was Dallas. Not New York, not LA, not Chicago, not Miami... Dallas. There's no glamour there and he'd have been second fiddle in the city's eyes to Dirk. He wanted it because they were winners.
