Even Laker Fans Now Think Howard Might Eventually Go to Houston

which DJ?

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Absolutely destroyed Houston!! All 5 of my parties was historical!!! Shout to Dwight Howard trey Songz and james harden!!!!</p>&mdash; THE REAL KID CAPRI (@kidcapri101) <a href="https://twitter.com/kidcapri101/status/303618440097300480">February 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Mr. Broussard says unlikely the Lakers trade Dwight. Dwight is not happy. Doesn't like the way he is being used. No personal beef with Kobe but hard to play with him. Dwight would welcome a trade to Brooklyn. CB thinks the Lakers will call his bluff. "We can offer more years & money, we're the Lakers", and if all else fails, a S&T option.

 

And it's not Daryl Morey!

 

Five parties and three names mentioned. Doesn't mean that both were at the same party!

 

Ken Berger pretty much echoing the thoughts of Mr. Broussard.

KB really doubts Howard is moved. Lakers won't blink. Some concern about whether Dwight will be a fit with MDA, will he be happy? The Lakers are in a different situation. They aren't the Magic. They don't look down the road and see what will we do if Dwight leaves? They're the Lakers. They have the biggest TV deal, Hollywood, the whole culture, if Dwight walks, where is he going? If he leaves, so be it. You reload when cap space opens in 2 years. That's not something a lot of teams can say.

You don't want an asset to walk away but they feel they hold the better hand. Of the teams Dwight said at the beginning LA, Brooklyn, & Dallas - Brooklyn can only get him in a trade. Can't really get him in a S&T. Dallas is the only place. Dallas is a nice city but not LA. To this point, he likes the whole deal. He likes Hollywood and that environment. He's already there. If he walks away from that, you have to wonder what's wrong with him.

It's one thing to be a guy who likes to have fun but if he can't go there with Nash and Bryant and not fall in line with that and take something from that, makes you wonder. Would Phil Jackson have made a difference? I don't know. Maybe Phil puts him in his place a little bit. Short of that, not sure what it will take for this guy to get it. If anything, that should be troubling to the Lakers. This is the guy you're handing the franchise over to, when will this guy grow up?

 

Why are they talking about sign and trades? I thought players couldn't get that larger raise even with a sign and trade.

 

Some teams won't have the cap space to outright sign him.

 

One team wouldn't have cap space, and that team can't do a S&T because they are above the luxury cap.

 

I think Rockets offer all they can afford for Dwight and he accepts considering that his other option is Kobe hell for the next two years. I think playing for a big man coach with young and fun players is what he will base his decision on. Money can't buy happiness and I think Dwight know that now. I say our odds of getting him here in the offseason are 60/40 yes. He's the final piece to our already well assembled puzzle.

 

So if we trade for Dwight, can we also make a relatively big signing in the off season? Since we will be trading some salary away for Dwight.

 

The answer to this question (Will Dwight go to Houston this Summer in free agency) is pretty easy to answer if you put yourself in Dwight/Dwight's agent/Manager/etc. shoes.

If Dwight is not traded by Thursday night, you sign with the Lakers, and here is why-

No way you walk away from an extra 30 million dollars in the last major long term contract you might get, IN THE CURRENT CBA(which will probably run out by the time his next contract is up, and with potential question marks with his health.

However, dont rule out the notion that Dwight and his camp will do this with the thought that they could broker a trade out of LA as early as next trade deadline in 2014. By that time they will have a good idea about how much longer the Lakers will be Kobe's team, and if the remainder of the teams core pieces (Gasol/Nash/MWP) and healthy and able to keep this team a contender. At that point, it might make sense for all parties to blow the whole thing up, and use Howard as a major trade chip to start the rebuilding process.

 

He's not going to walk away from 30 million. Not to mention LA is perhaps the biggest market in the league. If Houston wants him here then they will to make the Lakers a offer they can't refuse. 100% percent chance that Parson and Asik would be in the deal if a deal were to be done.

 

It's not really 30 million though, that would be assuming that he's out of the league in 5 years if he doesn't take the LA deal. In all likelihood he'd probably only be giving up 4 or 5 mil over the length of the contract if he's not completely broken in year 5.

 

Great comments.

 

Take these very relevant risks into consideration-

-New CBA during Dwights new free agent signing after his 2013 to 2018/19 new contract.
-Risk of injury
-potential decline in play

Its guaranteed money. Yes, I get it... Dwight will "most likely" still be in the league in 5 years, but there are SOOOO many factors that come into play during that stretch.

Yes, he would be getting paid something to play the game of basketball at that time, but you can in no way keep a straight face and guarantee me that he will definitely, 100% sure be able to make that 23 million dollars in the final year of your deal he is guaranteed to make by resigning with his current team otherwise...

There are way too many risk involved, and I can guarantee you that the new CBA after this one will most likely be much less superstar player friendly.

Any professional(athlete, businessman, whatever) would be out of their minds NOT to take that much guaranteed money.

 

yea never really understood that comment when it comes to a max player. I'm sure he'd still command a max contract and with no state tax here, it's pretty much a wash in the difference, maybe even come out on top if he signs with us without the bird rights

 

While I agree with what you said about Howard, I just wonder why K-Mac hasn't done any wonders to PPat and Morris' post game yet.

 

Keep in mind that (1) Dwight is 3rd option at best on the Lakers. In terms of players who've sacrificed their game the most on the new lakers of this year, Dwight takes the lead. Kobe and Nash have barely taken less shots. Pau's sacrificed a bit, but Dwight has seen his shot count decrease the most on a % basis. And... (2) pretty much everybody enjoys being around James Harden more than Kobe

He'd be a CLEAR #2 in Houston.

Dwight's averaging a full block more per 36 minutes THIS year than Asik is. This is Dwight not at his peak.

The problem here isn't the percentage on a relative basis, but the fact that Howard will have the ball more and be at the line more. That he can't get to
65% is problematic.

true that!