Broussard: Howard 'very unlikely' to re-sign with the Lakers

I'm not convinced Phil would want to come back to this disfunctional Lakers team even if they did fire D'antoni. Likely no Kobe or a much less effective Kobe even if he makes it back from injury to play next year, and even with a "better" offense they wouldn't be favorites to contend even with Phil. After having D'antoni picked over him last year, he isn't going to be looking to do the Lakers any favors.

 

Dwight Howard is not signing with the Rockets. This is all about forcing the Lakers hand to jettison D'Antoni.

 

Most of CF will believe it when Dwight signs on the dotted line. Until then, it's a long shot, and always has been.

 

Exactly. This is basically using Dallas to get certain assurances from Houston, or so it seems. Brian Geltzeiler (@hoopscritic), the guy who broke Kidd-to-Brooklyn, essentially confirmed that a few minutes ago.

 

/thread.

 

Coffee is for closers if LA stands pat.

 

Planning their smoke screen?
You know how opportunistic the media is. People are already dialed in to the whole drama. Any attempts to reframe the firing of MDA will be transparent at this point. Howard will not come out of this looking good, fair or not.

Then again, from the standpoint of the Rockets, it doesn't really matter. All that counts is whether Howard himself finds the smokescreen believable. I'm sure he can take some comfort in the thought that any blowback will disperse with time.

 

Something that kinda worries me is the reports that DH wants to be "the guy"

Would he be "the guy"? I think harden would be...

 

There was definitely a reason to do it earlier: to not make it appear that one player is controlling the coaching situation on their team.

That ship has sailed. If they fire D'Antoni now it reflects poorly on their organization IMO.

 

This kind of news sounds familiar.

 

I don't like that talk either. If he is as great as he thinks he is then of course the Rockets will design post up plays for him. Morey and McHale want to win so they are going to do what they think is best to do so. I worry that Howard is more concerned with getting his touches than winning basketball games.

 

Please explain to the what exactly?

 

I doubt that is enough of a reason to keep either party from doing what they want.

Dwight isn't going to leave because he doesn't want blame for firing D'Antoni.

The Lakers aren't going to let Dwight walk because they don't want a player to appear to have influence over their organization.

 

Not breathing a sigh of relief till Dwight signs the dotted line. It's nice to have such positive buzz though.

 

I am not sure the Lakers will let a player bully them. They are a proud and a little arrogant organization. In their opinion every player wants to play for them. I don`t think they want to appear weak and I don`t think they want a player to run their organization.

So even if Dwight just wants to use us to fire D`Antoni, I am not sure the Lakers would go for it. In their minds they can always sign Lebron later...

 

I don't know why folks refuse to acknowledge this. It's no bombshell that Dwight doesn't like MDA and would be much more likely to re-sign under another coach. This has been known for months.

Whatever the cost of Brian Shaw's contract in Denver was, is the small chance of Dwight still deciding to leave and putting you on the hook for that worth the long-term damage to your organization's credibility? Furthermore, if you're Dwight and conscious of your image, is the "coach killer" reputation worth sticking around for?

The time to make a move was in late April and early May. Other than in the minds of desperate Laker fanboys and paranoid Rocket fans, that ship has sailed.

 

Yeah... Dwight shouldn't have had to wait this long for the Lakers to get a new coach that he likes (that is, if the Lakers really wanted him to stay). Delaying in getting a new coach just proves to show that they are content in D'Antoni and either Howard has to bend to his system (which he most likely will not) or go to a team with a coach that he's content with.

All signs point to Houston.

 

You don't think they would have done that by now? They've known he's not a fan of Mike D. Why wait until literally, the last second.

 

I agree. If the Lakers were going to retain any dignity, the coaching change should have happened immediately after their season ended.

 

I agree. The Dallas stuff is a smoke screen by the 'sources' to maintain Dwight's leverage. It's out of Lakers and Rockets.

D'Antoni is Jim Buss' choice and I don't think he's going to swallow his pride after repeatedly saying MDA is staying. The billboard campaign makes me think they are not going to fire MDA, it's also very late to do this as free agency starts in a few days. Also doubt PJax is going to coach again as he himself has repeatedly said he's done and not physically able to do it.

One thing that interested me in Broussard's piece was that Dwight wants to be the man. Everyone says Houston will remain Harden's team if Dwight comes. This maybe Dwight's hesitation with Houston if he really wants to be the man. I think it will be a good thing for Harden to have someone better than him join the team.

When reading the stuff about Dwight not liking the fast pace style of the Rockets, it made me think how crucial McHales pitch is going to be and why the Rockets wouldn't let him go to Boston.

Overall, it's good news as it confirms what I've been suspecting.

Houston 60%
Lakers 40%
Others 0%