Dump D'Antoni to keep Dwight If Howard is Lakers' future, why bother keeping the coach he doesn't like? Despite what the Lakers say, their future has come down to Dwight Howard or Mike D'Antoni. When the Los Angeles Lakers traded for impending free-agent center Dwight Howard last summer, they were fully aware that the day would soon come when they would have to convince Howard to stay in L.A. Their basic premise was simple: If you want to win, you want to be a Laker. It's a sales pitch that has worked before. The Lakers also thought a successful season with a stacked lineup would have been all the convincing Howard needed. Instead, a team that was expected to contend for the championship sputtered out of the gate, eventually finished 45-37 and went down without much of a fight against the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Now, the summer of Lakers uncertainty has arrived. Teams with cap space (and some without) have lined up for the chance to convince Howard to play for them. His suitors are well documented (Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors), with the Lakers promised the final meeting for one last shot at pleading their case. Teams have used every means at their disposal, including billboards, Twitter and current and former players openly lobbying Howard to change his address. This whirlwind tour -- with teams coming to L.A. to present their case -- is expected to be completed sometime on Tuesday. As Chris Broussard first reported last week, "Howard's major problem with the Lakers is the system that coach Mike D'Antoni employs." All the same, the Lakers have assured D'Antoni both publicly and privately that he will remain as the Lakers coach, regardless of what happens with Howard. So both sides are saying the right things, and yet things still don't add up. If the Lakers want to lock in Howard for another five years, how can their pitch feature D'Antoni as the coach? What assurances will Howard get that things will be better? Howard's odds of remaining in L.A. will increase dramatically by offering him a coach who will be a better fit. General manager Mitch Kupchak has made Howard a priority for the Lakers' future. If that's the case, and Howard represents the best future for the Lakers -- better than a future with D'Antoni as their coach -- the choice should be Howard. D'Antoni and Dwight damage control The Lakers had a hard time adjusting to D'Antoni's system, and ironically Howard was one of the players who had the most difficulty fitting in. The coach who popularized the "seven seconds or less" offense favors screen-rolls over post-ups, which should have suited Howard just fine. In Howard and Steve Nash, D'Antoni has what should be one of the premier screen-roll combinations in the league. As detailed by ESPN.com's Steve Martinez, Howard thrived as the roll man last season, averaging more points per play than all players except Tyson Chandler. He quietly led the league in rebounding (12.4), was fifth in blocks (2.4), and scored more points in the paint than anyone other than LeBron James. All this in what was – for him – a down year. Yet D'Antoni never was able to get the team to jell. Certainly the blame isn't entirely on D'Antoni's shoulders -- he inherited the Lakers at midseason and tried to implement a system on the fly without the benefit of a training camp. He lacked the shooters to spread the floor for Howard in the middle. And his team suffered key injuries to Bryant, Pau Gasol, Nash and Howard himself. But as the season progressed, D'Antoni still was never able to right the ship. Gasol was left to wander the perimeter and eventually was benched because D'Antoni couldn't effectively figure out a way to use his big men together. The team got healthier and finished the season 28-12, but this was in spite of D'Antoni rather than because of him -- the more the team went away from D'Antoni's system, the more effective it became. "He's beside himself because he doesn't know how to fix it," said an executive for another team following one particularly painful Lakers loss. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Likewise, Howard has had to do his own damage control after taking flak in Orlando for the perception he asked for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy to be fired. To prevent cementing perceptions of him as a serial coach killer, his best recourse is to maintain a safe distance from the Lakers' coaching decisions. It is Howard's best strategy if he wants to return to L.A. with a different coach. But that might not be so easy. The Lakers know Howard will not ask for a change, but they also know Howard's decision might hinge on the identity of their coach. So why bother waiting until the last minute -- until Howard is leaning in another direction -- to replace D'Antoni with Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, or some other coach who will be more to Howard's liking? If they sack D'Antoni -- even if it's completely independent of Howard -- the center will end up with some blood on his hands regardless. Though Howard hasn't directly asked for a new coach, going public with his reservations regarding D'Antoni might put the needed pressure on the Lakers to make a change. And that should be enough. L.A. still the best option? The team with 16 NBA championships simply is not accustomed to losing free agents it wants to keep. And there are significant reasons Howard could stay. The Lakers, and only the Lakers, also can offer one additional season and larger raises (7.5 percent rather than 4.5 percent), totaling five years and $118 million. That's $30 million more than the best offer any other team can make. They have Hollywood and the L.A. lifestyle that Howard enjoys, and a track record of spending what it takes to build a winner. There is also an opportunity to join the pantheon of great Lakers centers -- George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal -- if Howard leads the team to a championship. The Lakers also have their 2014 plan. Only Howard and Nash would be signed after this season, leaving the team with a significant amount of cap room to chase premier free agents like LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony. The Lakers could reload and retool the roster without Kobe Bryant. Howard remains the centerpiece of the team's plans for its upcoming rebuild. With Howard, the team makes a strong showing in 2013-14 and rebuilds on the fly next summer, ready to hit the ground running in 2014-15. Without Howard, the future is murky. The 2013-14 season would be a write-off -- not the message the Lakers want to convey to some of the highest-paying season-ticket holders in the league. The team would have even more money to spend in the 2014 free-agent market, but a big chunk of that money would have to be spent on someone to replace Howard -- and who likely would be a lesser version of Howard. Of all the Lakers' scenarios, the best one, by far, features Howard in the middle. Any way you slice it, it makes sense for the Lakers to be proactive in their pursuit of their free-agent center, which means making a difficult but necessary decision regarding their coach. If D'Antoni is ousted, it might clinch the deal. Of course, Howard could decide flat out that his best shot at a championship lies elsewhere, no matter who is on the sidelines. If that's the case, then the coaching decision is moot. But are the Lakers willing to take that chance? "There is no front-runner," a source close to Howard told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin. "He'll enter the free-agency process with an open mind." But having an open mind doesn't mean ignoring his recent experience. In all likelihood, if the Lakers stick with D'Antoni, Howard will ride off into the sunset. It's time for the Lakers to be bold and proactive -- to send a much bigger message than they can send with tweets and billboards and celebrities. And make no mistake, Howard loves gestures: the billboards, the personal calls from Kupchak, the tweets. He loves to feel wanted. What better gesture could the Lakers make than to bring in a coach he likes? It's time for the Lakers to really show Howard they're serious about keeping him. But if the Lakers are going to make a move, they'd better do it quickly -- Howard's decision is expected by the end of this week.
Can anyone translate this into non-gamblers terms? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/MJ4Sports">@MJ4Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MJ4Sports">@MJ4Sports</a> bookie! update on Dwight Howard (OMG LOL WTF) - Houston odds shortening to now even. Lakers odds drifting at +200</p>— ShockerBOB (@ShockerBob7) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShockerBob7/statuses/352475699342348288">July 3, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
if I was dwight, I'd put all of my money on the team I'd go to and tell all my boys. lol but odds looking good for houston, and vegas is one of the most knowledgeable source you can get, even more than these "insiders"
A clear head is actually what Dwight needs to pull the trigger on the most logical destination. Everyone yappin in his ear all the time. The choice is crystal clear.
Pretty much means, they became even more favorites in this race. All those teams with a + number, means they are underdogs here.
The clues are there his S&C coach is here his personal trainer is here his off season coach in the dream is here the hall of game big man who had post moves for days is here and finally his barber is here
