Dwight update: Not close to a trade with Rockets

If the Lakers are willing to give up Bynum and Orlando is okay with his injury history, Howard would be a Laker right now.

If the Magic truly loved Brook Lopez and a bunch of crappy picks, then Howard would be a Net by now.

If another team has a lottery pick they can give Orlando in a trade, and willing to give it up, there would be rumors of Howard going to said team. But right now, the other offer seems to Horford and stuff from Atlanta. Horford makes $12mil/yr and has reached his ceiling. Which would you rather have: Horford making near-max or a lottery pick making $3-5mil with high upside?

It's possible that Orlando has another beastly offer that no one has even commented about. For example, if Minnesota is willing to trade Love or Bobcats will trade Gilchrist+future unprotected 1st, then I retract my statement. But given the info I have right now, there's no reason to believe anyone else is willing to give Orlando a better offer.

 

The Magic could be waiting to see how Lopez responds from injury.

 

Debbie Downer!!! I guess every party needs a pooper so that's why we invite J.R.

Just some harmless and fun speculation....only thing to do this time of year.

 

Which just further illustrates my point. I am thinking that part of the holdup may be waiting for some further contracts to become trade eligible to be included in the deal in order to take back additional Magic players. The unguaranteed contracts of Livingston and Forbes, for example.

 

Haha. :grin:

Don't let me stop the fun!

It's all good.


On an entirely different note, a David Aldrige rant: Let me say this again, because people don't pay attention this time of year. If I write that your team isn't likely to get a guy, either through free agency or trade, I don't "hate" your team. I'm not against your team. I'm just writing the facts as they've been given to me. Which reminds me: My Twitter account is my Twitter account, not yours. Please don't tell me what I can and can't write on it. If you don't like that, unfollow me.

 

Good points, but I heard over the weekend on 610 (I think?) that the Cavs have emerged in talks with Magic to facilitate a 3-team trade involving Cavs, Lakers and Magic. Anyone know if this has any legs to threaten Rockets chances?

 

It's got legs about like my dachshund puppy.

 

this rumor was shot-down as not happening the second it came out. The Cavs don't necessarily have better assets than Houston and with Bynum on their team, their picks become worthless since they are a possible playoff team in a weak East. Houston has the guaranteed lottery pick and young assets that Orlando covets. If the HOU-LAL-ORL deal fell through earlier, than this one has even smaller legs.

 

lol. Guess you have a pretty tall Dachsund....perhaps a Great Dane mix?

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>High-ranking officials from several teams involved in Dwight Howard chase say all recent talks now dead. "Cavs walked away again," says one.</p>&mdash; Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/224377270570188800" data-datetime="2012-07-15T05:38:04+00:00">July 15, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cavs keep trying to sneak in but they aren't serious about anything unless it's a steal.

 

Believe what you want. Won't happen. Just a bunch o' nuth'n just like all the Nets talk.

 

i'm of the camp that believes there's a good chance Dwight will re-sign with Houston if/when he gets traded to Houston.

If you Houston is the strongest frontrunner to get this done, why do you think this is still dragging out? Can you rationalize why the Magic haven't gone through with it already?

I keep hearing/reading that it behooves the Magic to get this done much sooner than later. Just curious what your thoughts are on the matter...

 

completely agree. A lot of sports talk idiots and callers have this perception that Maury is desperate. When in fact, it's the complete opposite. He knows that it's a win win situation either way, getting howard or rebuilding.

No one has a bigger package to offer than maury(that's what his wife said).

 

So you don't think there's a great amount of pressure for Morey to capitulate on getting a star now like Howard?

 

Are we there yet?

 

My guess is nothing happens until August 15.

If I'm Orlando, my first demand would be Dmo, and it doesn't hurt anything to wait until he is trade eligible.

( I would do it, but you can't have Lamb too)

 

The reason why it hasn't happened (at least as far as I can gather) is because in order for the Rockets to know EXACTLY how much money in bad contracts they can take back from the Magic, the Lin/Asik offers have to be resolved first. Until then, we cannot make a trade because we won't know the exact situation for our cap. Now, in the meantime, I'm sure the Magic are doing their level best to see if they can find an offer that will trump ours.....I sincerely doubt it will happen though.

 

Works in favor of the Magic as well to wait for the Asik/Lin deals to pan out so they can set their eyes on which rookie they want.

Hope you guys aren't getting too attached to Lamb...he's ballin' his way to Orlando at the moment.

 

I highly doubt Motiejunas is going to be involved. At the end of the day, the Rockets are getting A RENTAL, and there is no way Morey gives up his prized possession. The Magic can ask all day, but Morey knows that ultimately, he has the best offer on the table, with or without D-Mo.

 

1) While i'm not certain (nonone is...even Howard probably) that Howard re-signs, the chances are higher given the deal he can get from Houston, and HOU has more leverage. The key is convincing him Hou is the right place for his career and so I think the Rockets have their homework cut out for him by helping him land international sponsorships that compare with a career in NY or LA in $ as well as a strong support cast (Josh Smith, D-Will, etc).

2) Houston IS the strongest frontrunner to date but unlike what the media thinks, Morey is not desperate, he's playing the game and from all the reports I've seen offered Orlando a pretty small package of martin, 1st round pick, 1 rookie asset and taking back 1 bad contract. The only way Orlando can hold out for more is if it ups the ante by involving other teams--which it appears is exactly what they are doing by engaging the lakers, cavs, and possibly others (atl?). These are classic negotiating tactics.

Consider: the new ORL GM does not want to be stamped as the guy who got fleeced in a D-Howard deal. He is trying to maximize the offer and Morey is not going to sell the farm and hand over all of our promising players and picks. SO, he has to go to the Cavs, Lakers, etc and threaten to send Howard there with the hopes the houston will up their initial offer.

The problem with this strategy, however, is that 1) Howard has publicly stated he won't resign with Houston. That is a major misstep for the orlando management because Morey can say "we are renting dwight--not acquiring him long-term" and offer a value based on a 1 year rental. This diminishes the value of Howard for any team and is why, say, Minnesota isn't stepping in with an offer.
2) We have leverage based on our assets, cap relief, and future picks. No other team in the fray can offer that without multi-team deals getting made in the process. Morey knows this and can bide his time, basically daring Orlando to find a better deal. Its still early in the process so we have the luxury to wait it out. consider: Houston is "fine" going with the young talent it has now, or waiting on Dwight. There aren't many other moves that are pushing us this instant (we aren't missing pieces to start our rebuild). Orlando wants to rid itself of Dwight asap, since he is a cancer in the lockeroom and the circus is a distraction. Orlando is thus probably more anxious (doesn't mean they have to trade dwight, just means they are better off if they do it sooner than later).

So in summary: Houston has what ORL needs but can wait. Its either Howard or the current team. ORL wants to up offer by engaging other teams but the other teams are moving forward with their rosters and don't want to risk a 1 year HOward rental either. Thus, Morey waits it out, Orlando becomes more desperate trying to max the offer and either goes with Houston or keeps dwight and his circus ways. The hold up is Orlando is trying to squeeze more out of Morey and Morey is secure in his job, Les ALexander trusts him, and he can therefore make the right basketball decision without getting to emotional or spontaneous in upping an offer in a desperate move to acquire a superstar.