Sources: Houston has started contacting teams about trading Dwight Howard

I want MKG so bad...

 

Cod has said Nenê wants to play here but I asked Cod after that game against Washington and Cod said "dreads might be out".

Doesn't mean he might not end up here after all. Obviously the haul would be more if the Wizards were involved.

 

I don't know if I trust him after his recent injury history

 

So what are the chances that we do not trade Dwight? Risking it

 

I really do not want to have to see MKGs shooting mechanics more than a couple of times a year.

 

He's (finally) gettin better though, or at least it seems.

 

Random: did you guys know a "Jeremy Lin" in a type of bird? It is a member of the peacock family.

 

i think its pretty high that we don't trade dwight. the $27M cap space that Dwight frees up when he walks this summer is huge. morey is not going to be desperate and make a trade just to make one

 

I'd be surprised at this point if a Dwight trade happens. Just don't think we're going to get an offer worth taking. We'll see, though.

 

Haberstroh had some interesting things to say about the Rockets & Dwight last night.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14789987

Nothing we don't already know, but I thought a few things that continue to be interesting & mind boggling about this Rockets team & Dwight-

-The only team allowing more dunks around the rim are the Lakers
-The +/- of the Harden/Howard/Ariza
-Rox rank 24th in transition defense, and it has nothing to do with Dwight not getting back.
-Haberstroh thinks Dwight gets moved
-notes long history with Steve Clifford
-Teams want Dwight. Only two players in league averaging 14/12. Dwight and Drummond.

What continues to be interesting though is that while its obvious that Dwight isn't the problem, he's the one thing that Morey has to really make changes to the roster that dramatically make a difference to change up their core. You're not trading Harden, and its not like they have the Brooklyn pick like the Celtics have to make a blockbuster deal. Its quite the conundrum.

 

Totally agree. Would think though that any of Jones, DMO, Lawson and Brewer possibly get moved before the deadline.

 

I wonder how much value morey puts on the pick the owe (or potentially not owe) to the nuggets right now.

is squeaking into the 8th seed to get blown out by the dubs AND lose our pick worth it?

 

Why??

 

The other conundrum about where the Rockets currently are is the fact that we aren't losing because of lack of talent IMO. Sure, we have some flawed players. But if you look at our roster solely from a talent perspective it seems like we would are just about as talented as almost any other team in the league and more talented than a lot of teams that are doing better than us.

That makes any trade that we do interesting. It depends on what Morey decides to do and if he decides to blow it up or try to rebuild some then that's one thing. But if he tries to tinker and build around this current core the way that we have it, it wouldn't be just looking for the most talented players that we can trade for but instead the players who would fit our roster and help our specific weaknesses. That seems like it is a lot harder to find than just best player available.

 

What if D12 opts IN? Then we don't get that 27m. Granted the chances of him opting in are low. But more than 0%

 

I think if you have Dwight Howard (as good as he's been in the playoffs the past couple years), a Healthy & motivated defensively Harden, and you feel that all of the "others" (Brewer, Smith, Ariza, etc.) are playing well I think its worth it to give yourself a playoff shot & lose the 14th pick in the draft.

Even if you do miss the playoffs and keep the pick, you still have to give up Two second round picks the next year. With Morey's track record in the second round, its possible that two picks in the second round have better potential than the 14th pick.

So yeah, I think this team (if they are playing the right way) 2nd seed or 8th seed should want to be in the playoffs. Time is running out though for the team to pick up their defense, and based on historical stats, it would be a monumental task for the 7th or 8th seed to even advance to the 2nd round. But this team isn't your normal 7th or 8th seed. Its a team that should be in the top 4 every year based on talent. So a team like that I think you have to treat a bit different.

........

That being said, a Dwight deal still might happen because I think the team has proven that they can still be almost just as good without Dwight when they can simply play super fast paced basketball. The Rockets are of course better with Dwight Howard, but the complexity changes when they lose Dwight, and some might argue they might win games they shouldn't win more likely if they go small. So if you can get a great offer for Dwight, I think you do the deal knowing that he's likely gone when Morey and Fegan can't come to an agreement this Summer on a contract.

 

Especially when you consider the cap rising even more next season. Dwight might survey the landscape and find that a contract in the range he's seeking isn't going to happen because he'd be eating up a third of a team's cap. If he opts in he might have a better shot at a big contract next off season (assuming he doesn't have any big injury setbacks). If there's one thing I'm sure of though its that Dwight believes in himself. He's not trying to lock in a long term contract because he's afraid he's declining and hurt... he thinks he's worth it.

 

No the chances are 0. His injury history alone would make opting in the biggest mistake of his life. He could easily get $60 million for 3 years from any team.

 

Great point. I really wonder that too. First round is going to be very quick & out.

 

30 hours to the trade deadline.

Now the Magic changed their mind and they will trade Lance elsewhere. I wonder which team is interested..bkn?