Just because Dwight opted in doesn't mean he won't be traded

Can this be the all-encompassing Dwight Howard thread?

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/05/21/magic-oust-coach-stan-van-gundy-gm-otis-smith/

 

1 .
And although the Brooklyn Nets are still considered the frontrunner, “it is not going to be a one-horse race,” the source said, listing the Mavericks, Knicks and — to a lesser degree — the Clippers and Lakers as among the destinations that would appeal to Howard.


2. Houston allegedly had a deal in place to acquire Dwight Howard, but he opt-in to the Magic. I wonder why?

 

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/0...-of-orlando-and-nets-or-knicks-could-get-him/

 

Jarrod Rudolph(the guy who broke the news back at the deadline that Dwight would be opting in):

Spoiler

-Dwight is working to get back. Able to walk. A lot of walking. Trying to keep his spirits up. Really focused on getting back, getting stronger. He had not a setback but had to be in LA longer than he anticipated. He's working to get better. He's in good spirits and doing everything he can to make sure he is ready to go.

-Hard to say when he'll be back (in Orlando). I would anticipate in the next month or so. Depends on his rehab. He thought it would be 3 weeks initially but was told it would go a little longer.

-I don't think the moves made will affect his decision. The Magic yesterday put Dwight publicly on the spot. Now it's all on him. No favors done a few months back when it was said Dwight could decide the fate of Otis and Stan. That put everyone on front street. It also offered the Magic the opportunity to get back on the good side of PR. When you can fire Stan and Otis and that's the belief that that's what your superstar wants, now you put it in his hands and say 'OK, we've done what you asked us to do, now it's on you to sign that long term contract.' A lot of that went into the decisions made. You had to do something with Otis and Stan I believe got screwed. I think that's a big part of the strategy behind this to make it known that publicly, you're doing everything you believe Dwight wanted, what he desires, and now it's on him so when/if he leaves you can say 'We did everything he wanted but we can't compete with the bigger markets or big city.'

-I don't think Dwight made a decision yet. I think he goes back and forth about the possibilities. He loves Orlando. I always was one who believed Dwight can be convinced to stay. He can't be convinced by words, he has to be convinced by actions. Getting rid of Otis and Stan is action but is it the right action? Who are you going to hire? How involved is he in these decisions? What's your plan? How long before we're championship contenders again? These are important to Dwight and to any superstar. I think he can be convinced to stay but it's about what's going on. So much uncertainty and so much that people don't know about this process. It's a soap opera longer than 'All My Children'. It's not about making Dwight happy and not about doing everything that it's believed Dwight is putting out there. He hasn't spoken with Alex Martins or the DeVos family in quite some time.

-From what I understand, the discrepancy is coming from a conversation that took place over the summer with Bob Vander Weide, if I had to point to who told SVG that Dwight wanted him fired, it would be Bob Vander Weide. There was concerns from the organization about whether SVG--if his voice faded from the team and a conversation with Dwight over what's going to happen, what do you need, what can we do for you. Stan's name came up. At that time, Dwight was told he was going to be presented with a list of 10 coaches to take a look at. The assumption was Stan was going to be fired. A couple weeks later, no moves were made and they came back and told Dwight they weren't going to fire Stan, that Stan seeked some psychiatric help. A lady from Harvard or something along those lines. At that point, they were going to move forward with Stan. If I had to point to anyone, it would be Bob Vander Weide that relayed that info or one of the DeVos guys.

-Tough to say a certain coach would make Dwight more likely to stay. There are coaches names being thrown around. The one that caught me off guard was Rudy Tomjanovich. I'm not sure if he's interested but from what I understand, he was on the short list of people the Magic were going to approach to see if there was an interest in the job. Speculating on a coach is tough without a GM. Adonal Foyle at least would be assistant GM. I believe he is in the running. I also believe they have started interviewing for that job. A few people told me Adonal Foyle interviewed for that job around the trade deadline and he was instrumental in trade talks that were going on involving Dwight. From what I understand, Otis was stripped of trade making powers around the deadline after he called Detroit or something along those lines shopping Dwight. Tough to say where they'll go. They've always gone internal with their hiring which points to Foyle but Donnie Walsh is the name thrown around. You have to ask, how long is he going to be in place? 3 years, 5 years, the long haul? Is it worth it or is it better off to develop Foyle the way they want him? I would say Foyle or Walsh.

-The Magic, SVG, not Otis Smith, he needed to go, SVG becomes one of the many involved with the Magic that were fired when they weren't supposed to. Stan, Doc, then the players: Shaq, Tracy, Dwight, Penny, the Magic have a history of not getting it done and these relationships not working. No retired jerseys speaks to how the relationships develop and how they end. Leverage, you have to deal with the stigma of once again you lost a good coach and are potentially going to lose the best center of his era. You can't play hardball. You have to get as much as you can for Dwight or get help here to convince Dwight to stay. No time for games. If they didn't have such a history of blowing it with top notch guys, guys who have done well in every stop after Orlando, I would say yes you could roll the dice but they have to do what's right for the organization. If Dwight's in, try to get him signed long term, if he's out or hesitant, you gotta get him outta here. You don't want to go through Shaq again.

-If Dwight is out of here, I think it happens draft night or three days after the draft and if I had to guess, hello Brooklyn.

-Feeling was Otis was upset and he did quit because SVG was fired. They weren't immediately looking to fire Otis. There were some questions there. Otis feels like Dwight is leaving and doesn't want to be here. He felt like the direction the organization is going is one that will do everything Dwight wanted. You can't do that. Otis stood behind Stan. He felt Stan was a good coach and Dwight turned the team against Stan and because of this, the team struggled. Otis felt they should have been a 1 or 2 seed. He felt like Dwight stripped Stan of power. The other side said not true. Otis felt like this kid doesn't want to be here, doesn't like Stan, is hurting our team, we need to get rid of him. Otis wanted to make sure Dwight was satisfied but understood you can't listen to everything Dwight wants . Otis viewed Dwight as a good kid but still has a lot to learn and very immature and someone who is influenced by outside forces, his agent, his inner circle. Otis felt like that's not who you want to listen to. Otis was patient in dealing with Dwight but it's clear that he didn't like the direction the franchise was going. He feels like they're now going to do everything to satisfy this kid and he doesn't want to be involved in things like that and firing Stan was the first piece to that. Otis was looking it as, if I fire Stan, who is better that is available minus Phil Jackson that is on the market that you can bring here and do a better job than Stan? Otis failed to realize his ineptitude as a GM effected Dwight and Stan's relationship because these two only had each other to look at. Stan was the star, Dwight was the star. No real 2nd option. When you have that imbalance, when stuff goes wrong, you can only look at the two guys most responsible. Otis was confident in his moves. If you ever spoke to Otis, he would say 'I like this team, I like this team' when the reality is they needed a perimeter guy who could create his own shot for a long time but more important than that, they needed another star that could come in and balance the friction between Dwight and Stan and that's something that never happened.

http://www.740thegame.com/cc-common...rod_Rudolph_-_May_22,_2012_1337692057_746.mp3

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mave...mavs-out-of-luck-if-dwight-howard-traded-soon

 

No lie, if we have no shot at him, I'm great with him going to Brooklyn and Williams staying put.

Screw the Mavs, screw the Lakers.

 

Magic VP was on the radio saying it would be resolved this summer one way or another (i.e. he signs an extension or gets traded).

They aren't waiting till the deadline.

 

I don't think Orlando was telling him what their options were. They were gonna trade him to the highest bidder. Also, Dwight always had a nice guy reputation, and I think the pressure from the organization, fans, and his family made him cave in and stay the rest of the season. If he gets traded here, it's a win-win.

 

if NJ gets the #1 pick they would seem to have the best offer for Orlando

 

So basically Dwight wants the best of everything: max contract w/ raises, D-will as his pg, and the endorsements right? Damn is very complicated for the rockets. Alot of luck would be needed for this to play out.

So the goal for the rockets to acquire dwight and have sign a deal with us is to...
1. hope NJ loses its pick
2. hope the lakers or Knicks (don't think they could offer much anyway) don't go after him
3. somehow trade for him and hedo with our "assets",
4. then bait D-will to sign with us after getting dwight,
5. then finally baiting dwight to sign the max bonus after d-will is locked into his contract?

And this all has to be done after May 30th right?

 

1. After this season, I think that reputation has taken somewhat of hit. Even though, I personally think he was fake nice guy all along.


2. Or lose-lose-lose, maybe a slight win for Orlando. If Howard does not want to be in Houston, he's going to walk next summer.

For Orlando, they have all the leverage over Houston, and our package is not the best deal possible, it's not even listed in any of the articles. Most of the players that we are possibly offering they do not even need, outside of Lowry.

They aren't getting any mild-star attractions back, so there attendance is going to take hit. If they want to shed salary, why not just wait until next summer and let Dwight Howard walk at that point.They could decide to just go the tanking route, instead being stuck in Eastern Conference mediocrity.

 

What date can NBA teams start to make trades again?

 

Josh Robbins(Magic Beat Writer): -Sense I'm getting is Dwight does still want out. It has become clear that Dwight has distanced himself from the franchise.

Chris Sheridan:

-Howard has no interest in signing a long term deal. He harbors resentment towards the Magic for what happened on deadline day and when they essentially put a gun to his head. Dwight just wants to move on. A divided Magic locker room last year and it was messy. It came out in the way they played. I don't think they'll deal him until after July 1. That opens a lot of S&T possibilities. You'll also know who got drafted where and a better idea of who has what kind of assets to move . When they try to move him, the first thing they'll try to do is move Hedo with him and make it a package deal. You're talking about almost 31 million in combined salaries. Not many teams have the cap space to absorb those two players. They'll have to scour the league. Doesn't matter to them if they trade him to the Charlotte Bobcats, if he doesn't want to go there, too damn bad, you're gonna go where ever we trade you, where we can get the best. They start by trying to move Hedo with him and see what they can get. If not, they shop Dwight by himself. Teams will be lining up to get him. A lot of teams will think once we get Dwight, we can convince Dwight to stay. That's why Houston & Golden State were willing to take a gamble on getting him at the deadline. I expect a deal to come down in July.

-Dwight didn't like the ultimatum at the deadline.

-Dwight had a short list before but that has changed. His desperation to get out of Orlando has opened his mind to playing elsewhere. Even the Lakers, which everyone has said no because he doesn't want to be seen as the next Shaq and doesn't want to be 2nd banana to Kobe, both those things are true, however he'd still rather play for the Lakers than the Magic if all things are equal. Nets had their sights set on this guy for over a year. They're still the team Dwight wants to go to. Only 4 guys under contract next season. Could they put together the best package? One thing that depends on if the Nets win the lottery or get a top three pick. Hitting on a top three pick would put the Nets in the driver seat or pole position as far as acquiring Dwight. If they don't win the lottery, they only have the 2013 Houston pick, which is lottery protected. Nets hoping it all comes together but far from guaranteed of getting Deron and Dwight. They run the risk of going into Brooklyn with a team worse than the Bobcats.

-(If not the Nets, is it going to be where teams say you have to agree to an extension?): Depends on the destination. If it's the Bobcats or Bucks or team he doesn't want to be on, they're going to trade for him knowing they have to sell him on staying. Again, Houston & GS thought they could. Dwight stands to benefit tremendously if he extends off his current contract. He/you can build off your current salary and get a raise off of that rather than becoming a FA and having to sign for a max lower than what you're making now. A lot of teams are counting on the fact that by extending his contract where ever he ends up, Dwight's gonna make a heck of a lot more money than he would by letting his contract expire and becoming a FA. That's some of the motivation behind these teams thinking we can talk him into staying.

-A shame on Otis and Stan leaving. Otis a good guy, made a couple of mistakes but for the most part, his batting average was very high. He didn't shy away from the media. Stan tells it likes it is. Stan can be intense but Stan also one of the most forthright and open guys you'll meet in the NBA. A shame they lost their jobs but in this industry, with very few exceptions like Pop and used to be Sloan in Utah, people don't last long with franchises. You're hired to be fired. A hard life but the life these guys sign on for. I think both will land on their feet.

http://www.740thegame.com/cc-common..._Sheridan_-_May_23,_2012_1337777379_15304.mp3

 

Amick: Howard-Bynum trade makes sense for both teams

Spoiler