I second that... As I stated before it's going to be a interesting off season. LA has an aging team and Kobe will need a year or 2 to even get close to being back... plus father time is catching up with him also. Dallas is another team that is on the hunt for D. Howard and their an aging team also. getting my popcorn ready. T_Man
It's not hard to understand. In LA they will have to literally build around him again. At his age he doesn't exactly have time for this. Also you have to consider that they can't sign anyone with all these old guys on the books. This is another year of being on the same team that barely made the playoffs. In Houston he's coming here as a addition, as a final puzzle piece. Morey gets him...adds some great role players around the core we have, and now he's back on a contender. Point is...the Lakers are on the decline and he can't depend on some random player coming from the sky to help him. Yeah, Maybe love will be a FA...or maybe Minnesota decides to trade him before he can go for nothing...what then? Same for any big name that can be available. Lakers won't have the pieces to make such trades.
Well I agree however the OP basically destroyed his own arguments: Howard will make more than up with endorsements. Your assumption is that Howard puts winning over both more money and endorsements, yet this is the same guy who adamant in going to Brooklyn no matter what and kept threatening to leave after one year if we signed him. And now you're saying he's gonna leave LA where he could be the man and go to Houston of his own free will? You're nuts. Honestly very few players are concerned about their legacy when they are still in their prime like Howard. Most people put their own comfort and salaries over winning, which is why most of the underpaid players tend to be either rookies or vets in their last years. Also, the other posters talking about how NY didn't attract superstars for 10 year because they weren't winning....uh, that's not exactly true. They didn't get good players because they had Isiah Thomas who gave guys like Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry max contracts. NYC is the mecca of bball, obviously a lot of guys would have wanted to go there and play regardless of whether they were winning or not, honestly good players going there would change their fortunes immediately. It's not the winning percentage, it was the cap space that prevented NYC from getting good players.
Of course he can. Lakers have always been able to get players out of the blue to help them. They're the Lakers. Isn't Howard yet another guy they plucked out of some other franchise to help Kobe and Gasol? Didn't Nash choose the Lakers when the Raptors were offering him the max and the Heat badly need a better pg than Mario Chalmers? All the Lakers really have to do is let Kobe and Gasol's contract expire in 2 years, and they'd be all set again. If DH stays in LA, they'll immediately be in the play for LBJ, or any of the rooks turning FA in a backwater team.
Howard's endorsements have gone down in LA.... Perhaps Melo is a better example, since he didn't like, diva himself in the face with a shotgun, whose endorsements haven't changed....he pays more tax on them though. I for one hope they use the LBJ line, just to confirm to Dwight that they live in fantasy land. LBJ will either be in Miami or Cleveland (he might be the only guy in history whose endorsements would skyrocket by signing for Cleveland) in 2015.
Mcdonalds and ermm, Coca Cola dropped him http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45lide/8-dwight-howard/ He used to make $12m
Do you really think Dwight by going to LA will automatically bring him more endorsements? Dwight earning in endorsements: 2010 - $12M 2011 - $12M 2012 - $11M http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2010/index.2.html http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2011/index.html http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2012/ He actually lost endorsements from McDonald's and Coca Cola last year. Nothing will bring more endorsements than MVP and WINNING! It doesn't matter the size of market they are playing. LeBron's endorsement income went from $30M to $40M in one year as he won the MVPs and Finals in a small market called Miami. Edit: I was a little late w/ this info, as someone already posted about Dwight endorsement income from this year.
It's only the role players who make money off big market, as they will sign up with local companies, make an extra million or two. The star players, don't want to dilute their brand, so generally don't sign a great deal of local deals, but stick to the multinationals, whose market is well, everybody everywhere except north korea and iran. For them winning awards and championships matter a hell of a lot more than whose suit they wear.
Did anyone see Howards face towards the end of our game with them. He was worried. He wanted to win so bad. He said it's his team now and he was ready for the challenge. I hate that kind of talk from a player. It negates the importance of team basketball. But many of the stars talk that way. They find it necessary to claim all the glory. So I guess it is okay if you can back it up a little. Howard can. But more importantly he seems excited about the chance to take over the reigns from Kobe. I think there might have been a slim chance of Howard leaving if Kobe stayed and kept grabbing all the headlines and attention. Howard wants that attention and now he has a chance to get it. If they beat the spurs in 1st round it's all over... Dwight Howard is not leaving LA. Even if they do not get out of the 1st round he isn't going anywhere. he has had a taste of what it is like to be the king of LA without Kobe and that is all he needed. Kobe will try to take some of the limelight back by showing up on crutches to at least 1 game but it's too late Howard has a taste. Howard belongs to LA and they are not selling him short. Oh and isn't only about the money. It's about the fame and the winning. LA can give him all of those with it's natural draw for talent they will have their pick of the crop next summer. That is why are chances are all but done. We can only offer him the hope of winning and when we get blown out by OKC that will even be more of a chance than a fact.
The only problem I have is Chris Paul and Dwight Howard teaming up. CP3 is probably a pipe dream and Howard rubbed me the wrong way when he said $%^( Houston in the off-season. I do not want Howard, but more than that, I do not want Paul and Howard teaming up for 3+ years. No. NO. NO NO. If Howard winks at Houston, we take him immediately.
There is 0 chance CP3 leaves Clipperland. He's going to get paid big-time. He's their franchise player. He'll have some say in all decisions they make in the future, whether it be players or coaches. He's staying.
Paul has been in the league, and playoffs, long enough to know the alley-oop or fast break, will not win the playoffs. I think he is seeing Blake Griffin is nearing his max potential as a player and DeAndre Jordran is a zero without Paul. Hill is about done. Butler too. And Billups. On the other hand, Houston has Asik who will put up the exact same numbers with me playing PG or CP3. Thomas Robinson could be spectacular with Paul. Parsons won't get worse. Harden put up top 5 scoring numbers pretty much by himself. What could Lin do minus the center of attention? Its clear he's got game. Yes Paul has say on roster moves, no doubt. But we have a roster already built for him. I did say pipe dream to acquiring Paul, but if I wanted a championship and I had enough NBA experience, I'd pick Houston over the Clippers all day. (No prejudice of course). But still.
Houston has a history of great centers and big men. Also, he will be Jeremy Lin's Tyson Chandler, except better. Add on the fact that we have a rising all-star and little to no ego on this team, Houston is practically set up for Howard to take over. He would be the seasoned veteran leading a bunch of rising stars to a championship. We all know that when Kobe comes back (and we all know he will come back), Howard will be pushed aside again. It really is a matter of money at this stage, because I see little reason for Howard to stay unless he wants that extra 30 mil on his contract.
This is interesting. Can we go a step further by paying him more in the early years like we did with Lin and Asik? I'm not sure how that works. Over 4-5 years that can be a significant amount and I wonder if the Lakers are willing to match that. Another thing is, is there any way we can show that Houston is a prime location for endorsements thanks to our appeal (Yao/Lin)? I mean, would Chuck Hayes get a shoe deal anywhere else? Parsons gets deals too. I think that a team with Lin, Harden and Howard could be a marketing dream. At the end of the day, the only way Howard would join us is if he explicitly tells the Lakers he wants to join us. I think it's a mistake to assume the Lakers will not contend. No one thought they had enough talent going into the season, then they pulled off Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. The Lakers will always be able to get players to join them. If they remain healthy next season and add depth to their bench, they're back as contenders with Dwight having at least half the season to cement his role as a team leader. If Diwght stays the Lakers will be good. It's tough to see Dwight joining Houston unless we lock up another star first (Josh Smith, Kevin Love ,etc). Then we need to tell Dwight he's going to be the focus of a team with a great PF and James Harden. A young team with low post legend Kevin McHale as coach. Hakeem Olajuwon's former team and home in the US. The big man tradition is strong in Houston. Endorsements likely to be at least as lucrative as in LA. Won't be easy. Not very likely. But if we agree to a sign and trade with ATL for Josh Smith at a decent salary, then I like our chances.
