Probably late to the party here, but there are rumors heating up right now of a D12 swap with Blake Griffin. Apparently D12 and CP3 are looking to team up in LA after all.....man as a Houston sports fan the emotional rollercoaster known as "the offseason" has begun to take its toll..... http://sports.yahoo.com/news/blake-griffin-dwight-howard-trade-talk-battle-sources-150200738.html
Hence why Brussard's "sources" are basically crap. It is possible that he gets fed a real rumor once in a while, but they're generally mired in utter nonsense 99% of the time.
Howard is not coming.... LA is a much bigger market with a lot more opportunity...And as far as Asik, I like him and he improved but he cant catch the ball....and your opinion is irrelavent to what I said.....Lin is going to be the starting PG next year. They need a quality 4 and Howard nor Paul is going to sign with Houston......
Who let this troll in? Unless you have some inside info, your opinion has no merit. And no Ron Artest talking about Dwight's **** doesn't count.
I'm thinking we will end up with at least one if not both of them, just let the Free Agent tours start and wait for Dwight and Chris to be lured in by James Harden and Chandler Parsons and then we will really know what will play out. If the both want to win then they will have to be intrigued, we would have a "big three" comparable to if not better than Miami plus the positions all three play in theory would fit better than Miami's because with James, Wade and Bosh they are limited to alot of mid range shots, when we could have a good mixture of inside and outside shots plus Paul and Harden could be devastating with D12 on the Pick and roll. So basically if this happens I will send Daryl Morey a gift basket full of the finest cigars and a bunch of other expensive nice junk!
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Ramona Shelburne(Yesterday) If Dwight Howard signals he's leaving, it's more likely they let him go than look for sign and trades. (The idea of the Clippers and Lakers not doing a trade is overblown.) At the start of the next Lakers season, where is Dwight Howard? (Talking about Nate Silver and his political maps, being shaded solid blue, dark blue, light blue, whatever) Very, very light blue with the Lakers. He's really intrigued by Houston. He's always talking to Harden and Parsons. I know he'll take trips to Houston & Dallas & Atlanta. It's easy to flirt but it's different to get married, sign a contract, and leave the Los Angeles Lakers. I know the Lakers will get the final word. 51/49 he stays Chris Mannix: I still believe he goes back. 1) The money is huge. I don't think he's going to leave money on the table. From talking to people around him, the back injury he had gave him a sense of mortality, that maybe he's not destined to play until he's 35 or 36 and walk away on his own terms and having that extra money will be big for him. I think the Lakers will convince him they can rebuild on the fly around him but I think they'll convince him the money is important and they won't be would-be contenders, 6/7 seed, they'll be able to rebuild quickly. Stein: Those guys have talked(Howard and Paul). Don't forget that Harden and Howard are talking. The Rockets are a very real threat to sign Dwight Howard away from the Lakers. All the signals from the Lakers are we aren't moving Dwight, we aren't doing a sign and trade. If he wants to leave and take one year less, fine, we're the Lakers, we'll replace him. But in real life when the Lakers are faced with the prospect of him leaving, if it gets that far, looks for the Lakers to amend that stand. We saw that in 2010 with Cleveland and Toronto. They swore up and down they wouldn't do it. Those things won't play out until July 1.
This is why I've tried to stay clear of the trade speculation. It just swings wildly back and forth and if you get invested too much then you're just increasing the chances of getting your heart broken. That being said, I think the Lakers would be tempted for a SNT of Lin + Asik. They're both going to be expiring contracts at the end of next season, so they should have no problem moving them if they need to clear cap space for Lebron. Lin is a better player now than he was during Linsanity and will be better still with an off season under his belt, with greater freedom under D'Antoni, he might blow up. It's a chance the Lakers might be willing to take. Asik will definitely improve as a finisher and on offense and his defense already makes him invaluable to most teams, his contract is real value. But it's really going to be down to Dwight and I'm not as optimistic about him wanting to come here as I was two weeks ago.
Until CP3 is confirmed going back, keep options open. If we can S&T for Dwight, opening up enough cap room for (near) Paul's max, does Paul go back to the Clippers? (I would assume some handshake agreement is made...)
Stein has an interesting recollection of history, firstly Cleveland's position was to stop the market opening up more than just cap room teams. Secondly and more oddly, Toronto said they were willing to do s&t's and said they had scenarios in place with several teams before Bosh's decision.
Everyone knows the Lakers will do a S&T at the end of the day if Howard signals to the Lakers he is ready to sign with Houston, Atlanta, or Dallas. If the Lakers options are to loose Howard for nothing or get Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe, that's an easy choice to make even for the most stubburn or NBA front office's. Thats why everyone here should not get their hopes up. Dwight would rather player in LA for the Clippers IF(here's the kicker) the Celtics/Clippers make the deal for KG/Doc to keep CP3 there and happy. That's just a fact we have to live with. The Rockets can offer up Asik/Lin to counter the Blake/Bledsoe S&T the Clippers are willing to deal, but I doubt the Lakers really think twice about taking the Clippers offer since it includes a bonified young marketable star player coming back that can help them compete now. Asik and Lin are nice pieces, but I just dont think they have the same value that Blake/Bledsoe have. All of those here claiming Howard to Houston is a lock.... should know that things can change on a dime with Dwight Howard despite what you hear. Dont get your hopes up folks.
If you're the lakers in that scenario, if he comes to you and says that, they'll call his bluff. Think about the mechanics of this, if he says he will sign with them unless you s&t me elsewhere, the lakers would be thinking, well he's not really willing to sign them now is he. If simply signalling that they are willing to sign elsewhere gets your team to back down, then everyone would be doing it, **** even Cleveland weren't willing to do that..
I don't understand the notion of doing an S&T of Lin-Asik to get Dwight. Isn't a huge incentive for Dwight to play with a big? What's the guarantee we'll get Josh Smith?
