The Official Dwight Howard Everything Thread

[MagicFanInNevada 51]

I think trading with the thunder became more realistic recently with durant getting that "young super stud" salary bump and putting thunder over cap. You've got a bunch of young studs from great drafting, there's no way you can keep them happy salary wise after a few years, they are in prime position to make some great trades with their pieces.

 

I would really love if we traded with okc in some form and dwight ended up there...but knowing otis, their players aren't "veteran" enough and we'll trade with the mavs :svgsad:

 

Yeah I'm feeling a trade with the Thunder. After we lost to the Hawks in the playoffs last season I came on the message board and said they should make a trade with OKC then. Westbrook is a top-notch player and he needs to go somewhere where he can be the star of a team. He needs to realized that in OKC, he's not going to be the star as long as they have Durant. I want to keep Dwight as much as the next man but it seems like deep down he wants to leave us.Trading with OKC would give us the star power we need to stay competive for years to come. I know people would say, "Well why would OKC trade a young stud at PG and mess with the chemistry of the team" but a player like Dwight Howard doesn't come around to often and it's much easier to replace the PG position.

 

Trade Offer:

 

Thunder Receive: C Dwight Howard, PG Jameer Nelson, SG/SF Quentin Richardson, and Von Wafer

 

Magic Receive: PG Russell Westbrook, SG James Harden, C Serge Ibaka, and 2 future 1 rd draft picks

 

Magic Starting lineup:

 

PG: Russell Westbrook

SG: Jason Richardson

SF: Hedo Turkoglu

PF: Glen Davis

C: Serge Ibaka

 

Bench:

SG: James Harden

PF: Ryan Anderson

SF: Justin Harper

SG: J.J. Redick

SG: DeAndre Liggins

SG: Larry Hughes

G: Von Wafer

PG: Chris Duhon

C: Daniel Orton

 

Pretty solid team IMO, Good starting lineup and plenty of offensive firepower off the bench.

[VCplusD12 91]

your post

I'd prefer this

 

 

and then trading Redick or J-Rich for a good backup PG

[UBBALLER8 248]

If Dwight wants to go to this ****ty team, which our scrubs beat the hell out of without him on the floor -- then he's just a douche.

 

Chris Duhon would get a ton of burn on this Nets team.

[KLiQ 14]

If Dwight wants to go to this ****ty team, which our scrubs beat the hell out of without him on the floor -- then he's just a douche.

 

Chris Duhon would get a ton of burn on this Nets team.

 

So true

[MakDaRealist 15]

If Dwight wants to go to this ****ty team, which our scrubs beat the hell out of without him on the floor -- then he's just a douche.

 

Chris Duhon would get a ton of burn on this Nets team.

 

Its gotta be the night life and market. No way its to win.

[UBBALLER8 248]

Its gotta be the night life and market. No way its to win.

 

Of course. Hence why he would be a douche.

[Justin Jaudon 221]

I should probably start a new thread for this, but apparently all things Howard must go here, so:

 

A note to all those who think Orlando should let Dwight leave via free agency or trade for just picks instead of trading him for at very least young build able talent.

Witness the Toronto Raptors, or the Minnesota Timberwolves, or the Sacramento Kings, or the Philadelphia 76ers, or the Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Indiana Pacers. Does anyone believe these teams have a chance to be relevant anytime soon? I don't. Bosh left Toronto, and no matter whether or not they have all the salary cap space in the world, no dream team is coming there. The only place a boat load of salary cap space is a recipe for a contender is a place where players want to live. Does anyone think NBA players are lining up to live in Orlando? NBA players don care enough about their 12 illegitimate kids to want to live in Disney World. Elite players like attention and pretty lights. They like to mingle with stars and party till dawn. That's not really the scene in Orlando, is it? So how do you build a winner in Orlando? You get the guys who are really good but are ignored by the big city teams, like Dallas did. Dallas tried and tried to spend their way to a title, but it happened when people least expected it. It happened when they put guys around each other (good but not great players) who complimented each other and built a cohesive unit. The same thing happened a few years ago in Detroit, before they burnt that team to the ground. Those teams didn't come together organically, they were built, very carefully. After losing Grant Hill, the Pistons didn't panic. They built on what they had, and what they got for him. They got Ben Wallace in that trade. Then they added Billups, they traded Jerry Stackhouse, a good scorer at the time, for a young unproven Rip Hamilton. They drafted a defensive stopper in Prince, then they added the last piece, 'Sheed. None of those players were superstars. Hell none were stars. Dallas' story is different, but still relevant. They could have gone the Laker route, assemble tradeable assets and trade for another star to put next to the one hey had. It worked in LA. But when they tried that it never quite worked. Guys who were great elsewhere just couldn't get it done on that team. Eventually, they won a title with a 38-year-old point guard, a scrub starting in front of an undersized and over-the-hill sixth man at 2-guard, a supposedly washed up defensive stopper at the 3, and a cast-off from the Charlotte Bobcats at center, all around a second tier borderline star in his mid-thirties. And all this while never getting under the luxury cap. No big free agent pickups, just good trades adding the right players and a really smart coach.

Orlando has a really smart coach. A guy who has taken a team without an elite scorer to a championship series and followed it up with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. Not a bad couple of years. But management keeps panicking. They broke up the team that went to the finals. Then they broke up the team that went to the ECF. Right now Orlando has the NBA's most valuable asset (a great big man at both ends of the floor). They can use that asset to get pieces to make them better after he is gone, or they can become the Cleveland Cavaliers, and hope that a miracle drops two top five picks in their laps, and then hope they have the brains to make the right picks if they do (Cleveland didn't, by the way; the right picks would have been Derrick Williams and Kemba Walker). The draft involves too much luck. If you can get pieces that compliment what you already have, or if you can get pieces that are easy to build around, you do these things. Picks are like picking what's in the box on one of those game shows. You may end up trying to build a team around Andres Noccioni, or Andre Iguodala, or Kevin Love, or whoever, with no ability to trade for better pieces, because no one wants your crappy role players. Orlando is dangerously close to this place. Whoever gets Howard must take Hedo. They should probably have to take JJ as well, but I don't think that's a must.

 

I've heard rumors of "Dwight and Hedo for Joe Johnson and Al Horford or Josh Smith", or "Dwight and Hedo for Gasol and Bynum", or "Dwight for Lopez and picks". These are really the only trades I've heard that I give any credit to. He's not going to OKC. They wouldn't gut a contending team, which they are, to get one player, even Dwight. They would need to give up too much, with no guarantee that their team would be as cohesive. My personal favorite is probably the Hawks trade with Horford, if it's even possible (Dwight would need to agree to re-sign with Atlanta, which I have no clue as to whether or not he would). I love Horford's game, at least compared to the other losers being offered. Bynum is made of porcelain, and Lopez doesn't play good defense, and now he's got a bum ankle. No chance I would make either of those trades unless the alternative was loosing him to free agency. But the Atlanta deal intrigues me. Horford is a great piece, a guy who does so many things great teams need. And a complete big man is really hard to find. There are lots of bigs who rebound, lots of bigs who can block shots, who can defend the post, who can play great help D, who can shoot the mid-range shot, who can score down low, who can pass in and out of the paint; but how many bigs can do all of those things, even if none are to a quite elite level (though his mid-range J is elite, in my opinion). Joe Johnson's contract is a red flag, for sure; but he is a good player, even a borderline star, at this point. He is so versatile, he does so many things. Put these two guys on a SVG team with a bunch of PandR and a Meerkat who doesn't have to worry about creating for Dwight all night long, with BBD clogging the land and JRich standing outside and shooting 3's, with Ryno and Maybe JJ off the bench, that's a solid team. Also, even with Johnson's contract, Orlando would be in decent cap shape in a couple of years with Meer's and JJ's and Dudu's contracts gone. In 3 years, Johnson could be an overpaid second fiddle to a young new guy like Eric Gordon or something.

 

I think Orlando needs to take that deal if they aren't certain Dwight will stay, and if they can get it done. Otherwise, second on my list is the Jersey deal, just wait until the trade deadline, so you get the best possible pick out of their sorry team, and only if they can take Hedo. Lastly, take the Lakers deal, and see if you can flip Bynum, not Gasol, for healthier pieces.

[Penny Hardaway's Ghost 260]

Too many generalizations, grammatical errors and lack of sentence structure to be worthwhile.

[VCplusD12 91]

tl-dr

[Optimist Prime 197]

I should probably start a new thread for this, but apparently all things Howard must go here, so:

 

A note to all those who think Orlando should let Dwight leave via free agency or trade for just picks instead of trading him for at very least young build able talent.

 

Witness the Toronto Raptors, or the Minnesota Timberwolves, or the Sacramento Kings, or the Philadelphia 76ers, or the Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Indiana Pacers. Does anyone believe these teams have a chance to be relevant anytime soon? I don't. Bosh left Toronto, and no matter whether or not they have all the salary cap space in the world, no dream team is coming there.

 

The only place a boat load of salary cap space is a recipe for a contender is a place where players want to live. Does anyone think NBA players are lining up to live in Orlando? NBA players don care enough about their 12 illegitimate kids to want to live in Disney World. Elite players like attention and pretty lights. They like to mingle with stars and party till dawn. That's not really the scene in Orlando, is it? So how do you build a winner in Orlando? You get the guys who are really good but are ignored by the big city teams, like Dallas did. Dallas tried and tried to spend their way to a title, but it happened when people least expected it. It happened when they put guys around each other (good but not great players) who complimented each other and built a cohesive unit.

 

The same thing happened a few years ago in Detroit, before they burnt that team to the ground. Those teams didn't come together organically, they were built, very carefully. After losing Grant Hill, the Pistons didn't panic. They built on what they had, and what they got for him. They got Ben Wallace in that trade. Then they added Billups, they traded Jerry Stackhouse, a good scorer at the time, for a young unproven Rip Hamilton. They drafted a defensive stopper in Prince, then they added the last piece, 'Sheed. None of those players were superstars. Hell none were stars.

 

Dallas' story is different, but still relevant. They could have gone the Laker route, assemble tradeable assets and trade for another star to put next to the one hey had. It worked in LA. But when they tried that it never quite worked. Guys who were great elsewhere just couldn't get it done on that team. Eventually, they won a title with a 38-year-old point guard, a scrub starting in front of an undersized and over-the-hill sixth man at 2-guard, a supposedly washed up defensive stopper at the 3, and a cast-off from the Charlotte Bobcats at center, all around a second tier borderline star in his mid-thirties. And all this while never getting under the luxury cap. No big free agent pickups, just good trades adding the right players and a really smart coach.

 

Orlando has a really smart coach. A guy who has taken a team without an elite scorer to a championship series and followed it up with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. Not a bad couple of years. But management keeps panicking. They broke up the team that went to the finals. Then they broke up the team that went to the ECF. Right now Orlando has the NBA's most valuable asset (a great big man at both ends of the floor). They can use that asset to get pieces to make them better after he is gone, or they can become the Cleveland Cavaliers, and hope that a miracle drops two top five picks in their laps, and then hope they have the brains to make the right picks if they do (Cleveland didn't, by the way; the right picks would have been Derrick Williams and Kemba Walker).

 

The draft involves too much luck. If you can get pieces that compliment what you already have, or if you can get pieces that are easy to build around, you do these things. Picks are like picking what's in the box on one of those game shows. You may end up trying to build a team around Andres Noccioni, or Andre Iguodala, or Kevin Love, or whoever, with no ability to trade for better pieces, because no one wants your crappy role players. Orlando is dangerously close to this place. Whoever gets Howard must take Hedo. They should probably have to take JJ as well, but I don't think that's a must.

 

I've heard rumors of "Dwight and Hedo for Joe Johnson and Al Horford or Josh Smith", or "Dwight and Hedo for Gasol and Bynum", or "Dwight for Lopez and picks". These are really the only trades I've heard that I give any credit to. He's not going to OKC. They wouldn't gut a contending team, which they are, to get one player, even Dwight. They would need to give up too much, with no guarantee that their team would be as cohesive. My personal favorite is probably the Hawks trade with Horford, if it's even possible (Dwight would need to agree to re-sign with Atlanta, which I have no clue as to whether or not he would). I love Horford's game, at least compared to the other losers being offered.

 

Bynum is made of porcelain, and Lopez doesn't play good defense, and now he's got a bum ankle. No chance I would make either of those trades unless the alternative was loosing him to free agency. But the Atlanta deal intrigues me. Horford is a great piece, a guy who does so many things great teams need. And a complete big man is really hard to find. There are lots of bigs who rebound, lots of bigs who can block shots, who can defend the post, who can play great help D, who can shoot the mid-range shot, who can score down low, who can pass in and out of the paint; but how many bigs can do all of those things, even if none are to a quite elite level (though his mid-range J is elite, in my opinion).

 

Joe Johnson's contract is a red flag, for sure; but he is a good player, even a borderline star, at this point. He is so versatile, he does so many things. Put these two guys on a SVG team with a bunch of PandR and a Meerkat who doesn't have to worry about creating for Dwight all night long, with BBD clogging the land and JRich standing outside and shooting 3's, with Ryno and Maybe JJ off the bench, that's a solid team. Also, even with Johnson's contract, Orlando would be in decent cap shape in a couple of years with Meer's and JJ's and Dudu's contracts gone. In 3 years, Johnson could be an overpaid second fiddle to a young new guy like Eric Gordon or something.

 

I think Orlando needs to take that deal if they aren't certain Dwight will stay, and if they can get it done. Otherwise, second on my list is the Jersey deal, just wait until the trade deadline, so you get the best possible pick out of their sorry team, and only if they can take Hedo. Lastly, take the Lakers deal, and see if you can flip Bynum, not Gasol, for healthier pieces.

 

 

Whew... separated your post out into paragraphs to make it easier to read.

 

All that said, I, uh... disagree. Of all the options, I'd rather let Dwight walk. But I'm sure many others here on the forum can more eloquently explain why.

 

Also, he won't sign with the Thunder because they have KD, and I have a strong feeling he wants to be the undisputed best player on the team when he wins. KD would be the best, Rose would be the best, and their teams are already contenders for the title. Dwight wants to be the reason a team goes over the top, not just another good piece.

[Optimist Prime 197]

I should say, Rose isn't a better player than Dwight, but he is the undisputed leader of that team.

[Justin Jaudon 221]

Too many generalizations, grammatical errors and lack of sentence structure to be worthwhile.

 

I will not have anyone impugn my grammar. If there are grammatical errors, I blame my iPad's autocomplete. Or I blame the Otis Smith.

 

To summarize for you, I don't think it is smart to let Dwight walk and "rebuild". I have not seen a team successfully "rebuild" without tradable assets. The opportunity is there to get tradable assets by trading Dwight. Now I agree that if management thinks there is a legitimate chance to re-sign Dwight, then go for it. But if they are even leaning toward the idea that he will leave in FA, they should trade him for pieces and tradable assets.