prospective starting lineups: LA: C - Dwight Howard PF - Al Horford (or Josh Smith) SF - Hedo Turkoglu (or Matt Barnes) SG - Kobe Bryant PG - Ramon Sessions (FA - Jose Calderon, Raymond Felton, or etc) ATL: C - Pau Gasol (Zaza Pachulia) PF -Pau Gasol (John Henson or Andrew Nicholson) SF - Royce White (Terrence Ross or Metta World Peace) SG - Joe Johnson PG - Jeff Teague ORL: C - Andrew Bynum PF - Josh Smith (or Al Horford or Ryan Anderson) SF - FA Acquisition (Gerald Wallace, Nicolas Batum, Chase Budinger, SG - Jason Richardson PG - FA Acquisition (Raymond Felton, Jose Calderon, Ramon Sessions, Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash, Goran Dragic, Aaron Brooks) This trade would mostly on Orlando (Dwight's decision to go to Lakers), the Lakers willingness to part with Bynum and Gasol and take on Turkoglu's contract, and a third team (in this scenario - Atlanta) who essentially needs come up with pieces for Gasol. For the Lakers, I cannot think of a better deal getting a better edition than Horford and/or Smith.
If Atlanta is giving up Al Horford or Josh Smith for Pau Gasol, I'm pretty sure they will want to get rid of JJ's contract.
Holy heck - I just looked at the trade machine version of the trade. Why in the world would Atlanta do that trade?
Although it would fantastic if both the Lakers and Clips get knocked off after going up 3-1, I'd prefer to watch the Thunder beat up on the Lakers than the Nuggets. Routing for the Griz though.
One reason we should all be "rooting" for the Lakers (and I'm definitely not a fan) is so that they choose to get out of the Dwight sweepstakes.
I'm not sure which team I want to win. On the one hand, I suppose I like the star power of Kobe and the lakers, while on the other I like the youth of the nuggets. I just want the best series. Miami v Indiana = great series. SA v Memphis = rematch. Boston v 76er = oh well. Okc v Lakers = star power.
It'd be interesting to see Dwight on the Lakers. He clearly doesn't want to follow in Shaq's footsteps, and I don't think he'd get along with Kobe.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>As for the Lakers tonight, Kobe was exactly right to call out Bynum and Gasol. And if Bynum doesn't show up and they lose, he may be gone!</p>— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/201343908502974465" data-datetime="2012-05-12T16:11:43+00:00">May 12, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>However, I don't agree with Magic Johnson that Mike Brown will be gone if they lose. Jim Buss is too cheap right now to make that move.</p>— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/201344395298086912" data-datetime="2012-05-12T16:13:39+00:00">May 12, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I don't want to see that. If they get him in LA, then he'll extend with them. And we'll still be looking up for the next 4-5 years. This offseason is key for us. As long as Dwight and Deron are sitting there, that is two of the top 10 players in the NBA, just waiting to be teamed up somewhere. Once they're gone, we'll be left trying to pick off Harden from OKC after next season, or possibly trading for second tier stars to team with Goran in hopes of making a Pistons style championship run. Paul is not coming here. The big 3 in Miami are locked up until 2016. If they don't win the title this season, Bosh may be available. So what, doesn't elevate us to championship level, especially if we hand Miami a point guard (Lowry) and a PF and C (Scola and Dally) to go along with James and Wade. That makes them champions for probably the next 5 years in a row. So, this offseason is key to which direction we go. If somehow Dwight and Deron wind up in the West together, or Dwight ends up in LA with Paul or Kobe, then we are doomed for another couple seasons. For us to move to true contender status, Dwight and Deron have to stay in the East and we have to upgrade significantly or we capture Dwight and Deron together. No getting around it.
Dwight is signed. He's not "out there." Orlando is not going to trade dwight regardless of Stephen A. or anybody else saying so.
Dwight is not re-signed. He's an expiring contract unless he signs an extension. Orlando is not going to go into the regular season without that being resolved. He will either sign extension or he will be traded, not to the team of his choice. Everything will unfold on Dwight before 12:00 am July 1, 2012.
I'm guessing he probably doesn't want to play in Houston, either. He's mentioned, like every team, but Houston. Moreover, Orlando actually wants some viable players for Dwight, if possible another superstar level player or close to. Honestly, I do not see any players or pieces Orlando would want from us (especially for Dwight) that they cannot get through FA, outside of maybe a cheap pg in Lowry.
The pieces they can get from us are one thing. What they can do with the pieces they get from us is something else entirely. We can get them out of cap hell and help them rebuild on the fly in 1-2 years. No other team can offer them that. Now, other teams can offer them a couple real, real good player for Dwight without taking back Hedo or any of their other bad long-term contracts. And those teams could possibly help keep Orlando in playoff stature but not true contender status. But the problem is, those teams cannot get Dwight to commit because they don't have a plan to acquire a really top notch point guard....which is the one definite hook needed to get Dwight to agree long term. He wants to play with a top-notch all-star future first ballot hall-of-fame point guard. He really wants DWill or CP3. And that is the rub my friend. And that is the reason why I say the Clippers have a legit shot at him if they are willing to unload Blake and Deandre. It teams him up with CP3 in a major market. I think he'd extend with them and I think CP3 would as well. And if the Clippers are smart, they'll do it. (I'm counting on them not being smart.) Barring that, the drawback with the Lakers is with Kobe's salary, there is no way to add that proverbial third piece, except by trade, and the Lakers, if they trade for Dwight, do not have tradable pieces to get a top-notch PG like DWill or CP3 in trade. Here's the deal. Orlando knows they lose all their trade leverage with Dwight as soon as DWill agrees to a contract. So, Orlando is not going to wait until July 1, 2012 to resolve the situation with Dwight. He either signs an extension with them before July 1, 2012, or they will trade him before July 1, 2012 to the team that gives them the best deal. So Dwight either re-ups in Orlando for an additional 3 years or: 1. He is traded to the Rockets along with Hedo or Big Baby and Duhon for a combination of good players, picks, and cap space which allows Orlando to make more moves and rebuild through the draft quickly or stay competitive if they find the right deals for some of ours and their players and picks. (They will have a bucket load of options with the assets we ship to them.) 2. He is traded to the Clippers for Blake/Dendre as Orlando makes a move to stay competitive but salary cap tapped out. (drawback is they will not win a championship like this.) 3. He is traded to Boston for Rondo/Pierce as Orlando and Boston both reload and Boston then goes after DWill with a max deal to try to tamp down Dwight in the process. 4. Orlando settles for a deal with NJ because NJ wins the lottery and Davis along with other NJ assets is the best deal out there for Dwight. 5. He is traded to the Lakers as the Lakers gamble that they can win a C and sign him to an extension playing with Kobe and selling him him on their play to get a superstar point guard down the road.
