I liked our chances of getting Dwight, thought we were/are favorites. Dallas, Atlanta and possibly other teams, I felt, only had a chance at Dwight if they could also get CP3 to come to make them serious contenders. Therefore, by increase others teams chances of getting Dwight, it decreases our chances. If CP3 does want to team up with Dwight, our chances of getting CP3 (which I felt were pretty low before) increase because of our chance of signing Dwight.
Meh....that doesn't scare me at all. If they go East, then it actually helps us as both the Lakers and Clippers will go into free fall. We move up two spots by default. If they stay in the West, their only options are Houston or Dallas. Dallas will have a hard time clearing cap room with Shawn Marion's player option, and will not have as good a team to build around as Houston. The only thing that concerns me with Houston is Lin's contract.
Do you think Lin is hard to move? I think his marketing value and some potential will always create some market for him. A team like the Kings I could always see taking him.
Getting Lin and some draft picks whilst keeping CP3 and D12 out of the east would surely appeal to some team in the east.
Here are the possibilities for CP3 and Howard to play on same team: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9386902/where-dwight-howard-chris-paul-team-up?src=mobile One good superteam deserves another. In the hours after the Miami Heat moved a step closer toward potentially winning their second championship with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, our Chris Broussard reported that free agents-to-be Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have been texting about teaming up. Can they do it? If so, where? Let's take a look at what the NBA's collective bargaining agreement says about their options, rating each potential spot on a scale of zero to four snowballs -- as in their snowball's chances in, well, you know. Los Angeles Lakers: Zero snowballs To even join the conversation, the Lakers would have to use their amnesty provision to waive Kobe Bryant. That would put them close enough to the luxury-tax threshold that they could potentially complete a sign-and-trade for Paul, assuming the Clippers were willing to do them the favor of taking Pau Gasol and other spare parts in return. Before even getting into the political complications of the L.A. rivals trading with each other, basketball reasons alone mean there's no workable trade that would land Paul on the Lakers. Dallas Mavericks: One snowball Dallas is a year too early. If Howard and Paul were for some reason to sign one-year contracts with their current teams, the Mavericks could be a player for both next year, when Dirk Nowitzki has vowed to take a pay cut in order to create more room under the salary cap. For now, however, Nowitzki's $22.7 million salary for 2013-14 makes it difficult for Dallas to find space for one of Howard and Paul (as Insider's Larry Coon broke down here), let alone both. Even if the Mavericks traded everyone else, the most they could offer the two free agents is about $15 million apiece -- far less than their maximum salaries ($20.5 million for Howard, $18.7 million for Paul). Houston Rockets: Two snowballs Here's how this could work. First, Rockets GM Daryl Morey must find a taker in his current quest to trade forward Thomas Robinson to clear cap space. Then, by turning down Francisco Garcia's team option and waiving a handful of players with non-guaranteed contracts (James Anderson, Aaron Brooks, Carlos Delfino and Tim Ohlbrecht), the Rockets would have enough space to sign Paul outright. Next comes the challenging step. To get Howard, too, Houston would have to convince the Lakers to agree to a sign-and-trade built around a package of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, along with their young forwards (Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas). Asik and Lin could both be useful to the post-Howard Lakers, but they would cut into the team's cap space in the summer of 2014, making such a deal unlikely. Alternatively, the Rockets could sign both Howard and Paul outright while keeping James Harden, but that would require finding takers for Asik, Lin and all other guaranteed contracts (including Royce White) without taking on salary in return, and waiving everyone non-guaranteed (including the useful Patrick Beverley and Greg Smith) except Chandler Parsons. Detroit Pistons: Two snowballs The Pistons are the distant wild card in these proceedings. If Detroit waives Rodney Stuckey, whose contract is guaranteed for $4 million next season, and uses the amnesty provision on Charlie Villanueva, the Pistons would not have anyone making more than $5 million on the roster next season. They'd need to cut about $6 million in salary, which they could accomplish by packaging Brandon Knight with forward Jonas Jerebko (two years left on his deal at $4.5 million apiece) to a team under the cap or with a trade exception. Alternatively, Detroit could trade the No. 8 pick and convince Paul and Howard to take a couple hundred thousand less than the max apiece. By doing so, Paul and Howard would join a Pistons team that still has quality young talent. Greg Monroe could work next to Howard If he develops a midrange game, and Detroit would have promising second-year center Andre Drummond as either part of the world's most talented center rotation or trade bait to improve the wings. Nonetheless, it's hard to see Detroit, hardly a destination for NBA players, forming the next superteam. Their sights are set much lower in free agency. Los Angeles Clippers: Three snowballs Broussard's sources indicate that teaming up for the Clippers is the preferred option for Howard and Paul. In this case, the mechanics aren't as important as the question of whether the Clippers' organization wants to team Howard and Paul if it means giving up Blake Griffin. A Howard-Paul combination stands the chance of being much more effective defensively, especially if the Clippers choose a defense-minded coach to replace Vinny Del Negro. However, trading the younger Griffin for the older Howard would mean shortening the Clippers' window to some extent, and the lingering effect of Howard's back surgery also makes such a trade risky. Atlanta Hawks: Four snowballs The Hawks have always been the team best positioned to offer Howard and Paul the chance to play together. The Hawks have only three players under guaranteed contracts for next season -- Al Horford, John Jenkins and Lou Williams. Still, to clear enough room to sign both Howard and Paul to the max, Atlanta would have to trade Williams and either Jenkins or one of this year's two first-round picks without taking back any salary. The team could use the pick as a carrot to get a team under the cap or with a trade exception to take on Williams, whose contract is reasonable despite the ACL injury that ended his 2012-13 campaign. Oh, and forget about reuniting Howard with former AAU teammate Josh Smith. The Hawks would have to renounce the rights to Smith and point guard Jeff Teague in order to make this all work. So Atlanta's cupboard would be nearly completely bare -- Horford, Howard, Paul and Jenkins along with one of the first-round picks and whatever free agents the team could sign using the "room exception" ($2.65 million, which could be split up) and the minimum salary. But Howard and Paul would be together -- and Atlanta is far and away the most realistic situation for making that happen.
