Look at the history of star players being traded, and look at what the other team got in return. Minnesota got#1 pick Andrew Wiggins, former #1 pick Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young and a trade exception when it traded Kevin Love. Orlando got Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Moe Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga and some draft picks when it traded Dwight Howard to LAL. Denver got Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler and draft picks when it traded Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York. Utah got Derrick Favors, Devin Harris and some draft picks when it traded Deron Williams (back when Williams was actually good) New Orleans got Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al Farouq-Aminu and a first round pick when it traded Chris Paul to LAC. And of course, OKC got Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and some draft picks (which turned into Steven Adams, Alex Abrines and Mitch McGary) when it traded James Harden to Houston. I know as fans we like to sit around and come up with trade scenarios where we trade one of our superstars for another superstar that we think it better or would fit our team better. But those trades rarely, rarely happen. The blueprint for trading superstars seems to be pretty set- younger players and draft picks. Although it can be fun to think about, realistically I cannot imagine way we would be able to trade Dwight Howard and become a better team now. We would probably be getting pieces back that would help us rebuild, which is not our goal anymore.
Those stars you listed were actually (for the most part) in higher demand as well. The return would probably be something like a mediocre veteran with a high salary, a mediocre veteran with a low salary, an interesting young player with a low salary, a lottery pick type young player (upside, downside) and a draft pick.
I'm growing tired of Dwight. He's one of the only players in the league that actively goes against what he's most effective at (P&R), and if he isn't going to protect the rim like he should, he's not worth his contract in the slightest bit.
he is turning sour for me. mainly because he is supposed to be one (if not the best) defensive centers in the league yet he looks more like a turnstile these days.
