I really don’t want to talk about Dwight Howard. Everyone is aware of how he’s immature and
doesn’t know what he wants and this and that and Stan Van Gundy and the whole 9
yards. Enough. I’m sick of him. I also think he’s still the best Center in
the NBA IF he gets his you-know-what together this offseason and gets a fresh
start. Yes, away from the Lakers.
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If it’s any indication of how far he’s fallen, I actually
tried to figure out if maybe Milwaukee could get enough cap space to sign him,
pair him with Brandon Jennings, Ersan Ilyasova, J.J. Reddick, and a bunch of
shooters to try and re-create his Orlando team in a smaller market where people
wouldn’t crucify him to not double-knotting his shoes or whatever irks the
people in Los Angeles. So there’s
that. I thought maybe the Milwaukee
effing Bucks would be one of his best scenarios.
So what has to happen in order for all this D12 crap to just
go away? One, Dwight needs to get
paid. Two, he needs to leave L.A. The conundrum here is that the Lakers can
offer him more money than everyone else, because the NBA makes rules that
prevent star players from leaving crappy situations without having to take less
money (just about the only thing the owners have to negotiate with, but
still). So a sign and trade is ideal for
both sides- the Lakers won’t be pissed they lost him for nothing, and Dwight
still gets as much money as possible.
The big destination everyone is screaming and yelling about
is Houston. Omer Asik and some other
pieces would go back to the Lakers and the Rockets would build around James
Harden and Dwight. The problem with that
is the Rockets have Darrell Morey, in my opinion one of the elite General
Managers in the NBA. If the asking price
is Chandler Parsons and Asik among other pieces, I don’t think Morey will
bite. He spent years building up good
young assets/cap space and only gives them up when he steals a trade (like the
all too predictable Harden deal last summer).
I don’t know if Houston wants Dwight unless he will sign outright with
them, and even then, I’m not sold on Morey knocking down Dwight’s door to hand
him a max deal.
So if Houston falls through (I think it will) Dwight is supposed
to go home to Atlanta. I wanted the
Hawks and Magic to swap Horford and Howard 2 years ago but instead the Magic
opted to hold onto him too long, and then send him to L.A. for a few solid
young pieces. Fine by me. The dilemma here is that there’s no
conceivable reason for Dwight to go to Atlanta, except that he’s from
there. He and Horford would make a nice
front line, but who is going to give them room to operate? The Hawks are about to lose Josh Smith and
are pretty much stuck in the dreaded “No Man’s Land.” Even with Howard they aren’t contenders, but
they’re too good to get high lottery picks or acquire the cap space to become a
contender. D12 would sell tickets, but
going to Atlanta would be another stupid basketball decision to add to his résumé.
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So where does Dwight go?
Frankly, I don’t care. I’m tired
of listening to the talk, and I’d like for him to
either go somewhere where he
can bounce back to being a stud or just go away altogether. I’ve already stated a sign-and-trade is
ideal, and then I had a slight epiphany today about where he could go.
Just for a second here, pretend you the reader are running
the Lakers. Congratulations! You just inherited an old team of overpaid
underperformers, and a one-legged Kobe Bryant!
Anyway, I’m a rival GM, and I know Dwight wants that 5 year, $118
million deal that only you can give him. I’ve got an elite shot-blocker I can
give you in return to replace his production.
He’s only 24 and his offensive game is getting stronger and stronger
(not that Dwight’s is good). His
rebounding and shot blocking numbers went up in this year’s playoffs, so you know
he can handle big moments and the L.A. spotlight. He’s also affordable- at $12.25 per year over
the next 4 you’re getting a young, cost- effective franchise post player. Why am I offering you this for your cranky
Center whose numbers are down? I need to
create a buzz for my team and I’d like to shed this contract we have. It only has 2 years left on it and the salaries
match up perfectly if we throw him into the swap of big guys. What do you say? You eat this contract for 2 years and get one
of the top 2 under-25 big guys in the league (along with Anthony Davis), rather
than losing Dwight Howard for nothing.
Do you say yes?
If you say no, I hope Dwight Howard signs with Houston
outright and you enjoy the lottery next year.
If you say yes, Dwight Howard signs-and-trades to…
…
…
The Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dwight Howard in a sign and trade for Serge Ibaka and
Kendrick Perkins. That’s my trade. The salaries line up, Dwight gets his money,
the Lakers get a franchise big guy (who has led the league in blocks 3 years
running) and the Thunder get to roll out a “Big 3” of Kevin Durant, Russell
Westbrook, and Dwight Howard.
I’m thinking about writing to both GMs to try and make this
happen. It’d be great for basketball.
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| Photo Rights to ESPN |
Here are our roadblocks for each team:
Lakers: Would the Lakers move Howard for Ibaka? Would they eat that contract of Perkins? I say yes for 2 reasons. First, Kobe’s massive contract has 2 years
left, so L.A. isn’t playing with money for another 2 years anyway
(minimum). Bill Simmons thinks they’ll
amnesty Kobe after next year and trade away Pau Gasol to make a run at LeBron
James as a free agent. I just don’t see
why LBJ would go to the Lakers when they’d offer him a terrible supporting cast
(at least initially). The only thing the
Lakers would have is their history, which means diddly-poo to NBA players in
today’s age. Don’t believe me? How about all those good free agents the
Celtics NEVER SIGN because Boston is cold, the women are, uh…not the best, and
there’s the underlying racism issues that overshadow 17 banners hanging in the
Boston Garden. History means nothing
next to night life, warm weather, and media exposure so they can launch their
own fashion lines and their wives can get on ESPN 4 or 5 times a year.
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So the Lakers can bet it all on LeBron not caring about winning
anymore OR they can pair Ibaka with his Olympic teammate Pau Gasol and try and
resurrect Gasol’s career. Ibaka is a
better partner for Gasol than Dwight because he’d allow him to go back into the
low post on offense where he is most effective, while still offering the rim
protection Howard provides on D. So the
Lakers could run out a 4-5 tandem that could contend with Memphis’ and then
bring Kobe back for the stretch run and become the dark horse no one wants to
see in the West come playoff time (I still believe L.A. would have been
contenders the past 2
seasons if they didn’t mess up Pau Gasol mentally so
bad). That seems like a better plan to
me.
Thunder: The Thunder supporters out there are screaming
about small market bull crap and how they can’t pay 3 franchise guys max
contracts. BEEEE…ESSSS. First and foremost, OKC has an unbelievable
fan base, and they can absolutely afford to pay the luxury tax. They make money, and they get a big chunk of
TV revenue because they’re popular all over the place. So shush up about being poor ol’ OKC and
think about the people in Milwaukee who have INCREDIBLE basketball fans and
jack squat for NBA success over the past 25 years or whatever.
Second, the Thunder could have paid Harden a max contract,
but they realized they couldn’t pay Harden AND Ibaka so they chose Ibaka as the
cheaper of the two options, as well as having a big man to go with their 2
perimeter All-Stars. Fine. They screwed up, but they aren’t getting Harden
back so they’re going to have to figure it out without The Bearded One. Let’s run this down:
The Thunder couldn’t keep Harden to a max deal AND keep
Ibaka. So in theory they can’t sign
Howard to a max deal unless…Oh my lord unless they trade Ibaka for him! Wow, that was so difficult to figure
out! And…wait for it…they can unload
Perk’s hilarious $17.5 million over the next 2 years off their books to make
the trade work by NBA rules! Double whammy!
Look at it this way:
Over the next 2 years, the Thunder can pay Perk and Ibaka approximately
$42.5 million, or they can spend roughly the same amount on Dwight Howard. They’re spending that money either way. And Kevin Martin’s deal just came off the
books, and they paid him nearly $12.5 million last year. They have the financial ability to do the
contract.
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I’m really stoked about this idea. I think it works out as well as it can for
all parties involved. It also allows D12
to be the third banana on a title contender for the next 5 years at least (as
well as compete with Westbrook for scapegoat duties if they fail). It’s a PERFECT sign-and-trade deal for the
Thunder, and it’s as good as the Lakers can hope for, in my opinion. It’d also be great for Howard’s career, as
well as Ibaka’s if he continues to blossom.
It just makes too much sense…
…which is why it’s definitely not happening. Oh well.
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