Dwight Howard is a punk

[Eddie20]

If I'm Otis Smith I contact Kupchak and agree in principle on a deal for Bynum and both their 1st rd draft picks. Then I contact Billy King and inform them that they can have Howard, but it will cost the Nets Lopez, Humprhies, Brooks, and both their 1st rd draft picks. I would then remind them that if he gets traded to LA the probability of him re-signing with LA is high (they would be able to offer about 30M more), and if he does re-sign there they'll likely lose Deron to Dallas as well.

[Employee8]

Yeah, it's a part of the game nowadays.  I'm not sure how to feel about this because I loved the old days where players understood that it was simply a privilege to play for a team and to be playing basketball for a living.

Now the players are seeing eye to eye with the owners and they realize that the owners need them as much as they need them.  So is this good or bad?  Good in the sense that they finally see each other as equals but bad in that the players' egos are so unbelievably overinflated that they're overstepping their boundaries and control their franchises.  There needs to be a line drawn.  Denver drew the line with Melo and got rid of him.  Cleveland didn't with LeBron.  And it looks like Orlando isn't drawing the line with Dwight.  Centers are hard to come by.

I agree that what Dwight is doing is manipulative but I can understand it from his point of view.  He wants to be on a contender.  He's simply too good to be traded to a contender because he's going to demand 2 or 3 of their top players.  He's got the desire to win, which is more than I can say about LeBron.

You could argue that what dwight is doing now is what lebron did the whole time during his free agent year.

Plan on going to a certain team the whole time, lead your current team to believe they have a chance at resigning you only to leave.them for the team you planned to go to the whole time. Smart of Lebron to do the this as he went to a team that didn't have to give up nearly anything to get him. And a lot of people don't believe that this was something in the works the whole time

So perhaps this is time for a new culture in the front office?  Time for GMs and owners to step up and have the attitude of "Well, I know you say you want to say with us.  Problem is, you have every right to explore free agency so don't be upset with us if we explore the option of trading you."

This would essentially mean giving up the trust between players and the front office.  What does this mean?  I personally think that once that trust disintegrates, you're not a championship caliber team anymore.  But maybe that's the new approach.  If everyone does it then you can contend for championships with constant animosity between owners and players?  Very tough for an organization to have an out of the world superstar player on their team.  Celtics have not had this problem for awhile now.

[LarBrd33]

If I'm Otis Smith I contact Kupchak and agree in principle on a deal for Bynum and both their 1st rd draft picks. Then I contact Billy King and inform them that they can have Howard, but it will cost the Nets Lopez, Humprhies, Brooks, and both their 1st rd draft picks. I would then remind them that if he gets traded to LA the probability of him re-signing with LA is high (they would be able to offer about 30M more), and if he does re-sign there they'll likely lose Deron to Dallas as well.

Edit:  You're probably right on this.  And if I'm the Nets I probably pass on it.  Hopefully they have contingent deals set up to trade Deron (like to Boston for Rondo) in the event Dwight goes to LA. 

[GreenFaith1819]

Just because I feel like taking another potshot at this dirty egocentric Hollywood punk I want to bring up the irrelevant fact that Dwight Howard is supposedly some Hulk-Hogan-esque uber Christian, but he knocked up one of the Orlando Magic dancers out of wedlock... future "basketball wives" star Royce Reed.  I feel like the hypocrisy doesn't get enough attention.

And his superman dunk wasn't even a dunk.

There...  all done.

Wow, Man....all have fallen short, brother.

I'm thankful that my wife married ME, for that matter. I was a nearly complete MESS before she showed up in my life, lol..

Still a mess, too, at times.

Where is the Love, says Miss Roberta Flack.

He never married her.  She's just his babymommy.  She quit dancing and she's off trying to make a career as a reality television star and an author... and showcasing her new boytoys to the world. 

http://s2smagazine.com/stories/2012/02/royce-reed-dishes-her-relationships


I was kidding, regardless.  I don't care how many babymommys Dwight wants to have. 

The Superman non-dunk is unforgivable, though.  It temporarily ruined future teammate Gerald Green's career as an NBA sideshow.

Now I certainly WILL agree with you on that flimsy "Superman" dunk that Dwight did.

Just weak, wack, whatever the youngsters call it nowadays.

Shawn Kemp did some of this stuff in games, for crying out loud :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQeMhYJe5JA&ob=av3e

Note to Dwight: Do a number 1, then come talk to me.

"WOOOO!! THE RAINNNN MANNNN!!!, lol...

[indeedproceed]

If I'm Otis Smith I contact Kupchak and agree in principle on a deal for Bynum and both their 1st rd draft picks. Then I contact Billy King and inform them that they can have Howard, but it will cost the Nets Lopez, Humprhies, Brooks, and both their 1st rd draft picks. I would then remind them that if he gets traded to LA the probability of him re-signing with LA is high (they would be able to offer about 30M more), and if he does re-sign there they'll likely lose Deron to Dallas as well.

If I'm Otis Smith I trade Dwight Howard to whatever West Coast team offers me the most, that isn't the Nets. Because screw the Nets, they thought they could take my franchise player for nothing, and that kind of behavior cannot be reinforced.

Hey Denver, want to trade Dwight Howard for Faried, Miller, Brewer and Mozgov? Yup, me too.

Wazzup Memphis! Wanna trade me Howard for Gasol, Speights, and Arthur?

What's poppin, Minnesota? Wanna trade Dwight Howard for Beasley, Derrick Williams, Anthony Randolph, and Anthony Tolliver? Cool. Coolcoolcool.

Shalom, Utah! Wanna trade Howard and Turkoglu for Al Jeff, Harris, and Gordon Hayward? Awesome.

Hey Portland, my brotha, undercovah, no oth-ah...wanna trade Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson for Camby, Felton, Batum, and Luke Babbit? Well so do I!

And on...and on...

[slamdunk]

I don't see Bynum as that great of an offer. He's always hurt (averaged 55 games played over his first 6 seasons) and is only under contract for one more year. Do the Magic want to go through this situation again next year?

[Celts Fan 92]

Just because I feel like taking another potshot at this dirty egocentric Hollywood punk I want to bring up the irrelevant fact that Dwight Howard is supposedly some Hulk-Hogan-esque uber Christian, but he knocked up one of the Orlando Magic dancers out of wedlock... future "basketball wives" star Royce Reed.  I feel like the hypocrisy doesn't get enough attention.

And his superman dunk wasn't even a dunk.

There...  all done.

lol thats been dead man he got exposed look at all the cussing he does wit the technical fouls

[Yoki_IsTheName]

watching ESPN First Take and Stephen A has it spot on. He wants out of Orlando, but he doesn't wanna do it and be hated like what LeBron did. He's saying all this stuff but clearly he wants out. He should just be vocal about it like Melo and be over with it.

Otis Smith should go get him traded to the Nets. Get multiple draft picks, MarShon, Lopez and anybody thats needed to be done. They ain't getting past Boston anyway.

[KGs Knee]

If I'm Otis Smith I contact Kupchak and agree in principle on a deal for Bynum and both their 1st rd draft picks. Then I contact Billy King and inform them that they can have Howard, but it will cost the Nets Lopez, Humprhies, Brooks, and both their 1st rd draft picks. I would then remind them that if he gets traded to LA the probability of him re-signing with LA is high (they would be able to offer about 30M more), and if he does re-sign there they'll likely lose Deron to Dallas as well.

If I'm Kupchak I'll tell Orlando no dice.

Bynum is quickly becoming every bit Howard's equal.  Bynum already is a better offensive player.  Howard is still, and will always be better on the defensive end, is a slightly better rebounder, and has proven to be more durable.  Bynum has more upside I think though.  LA would be best served to keep Bynum, and I'm pretty sure Kupchak realizes this.

[jojowhite10]

Yeah, Bynum's a 22/12 guy for at least 5-6 more years starting next season. When Kobe starts to decline the Lakers are his team.

[Fafnir]

Yeah, Bynum's a 22/12 guy for at least 5-6 more years starting next season. When Kobe starts to decline the Lakers are his team.

*if healthy

[jojowhite10]

Yeah, Bynum's a 22/12 guy for at least 5-6 more years starting next season. When Kobe starts to decline the Lakers are his team.

*if healthy

True. Also fair looking at his past.

[Chris]

Yeah, Bynum's a 22/12 guy for at least 5-6 more years starting next season. When Kobe starts to decline the Lakers are his team.

*if healthy

And this is the key.  Which is the bigger roll of the dice, counting on Bynum to stay healthy, or that Howard will decide to resign?

Since I think Howard would make them the favorites for the championship this year, I would roll the dice on Howard. 

The thing about LA is that they will always be able to attract superstars.  So, if Howard walks, it will just be a matter of time before the next guy comes around.

[Fafnir]

Yeah, Bynum's a 22/12 guy for at least 5-6 more years starting next season. When Kobe starts to decline the Lakers are his team.

*if healthy

And this is the key.  Which is the bigger roll of the dice, counting on Bynum to stay healthy, or that Howard will decide to resign?

Since I think Howard would make them the favorites for the championship this year, I would roll the dice on Howard. 

The thing about LA is that they will always be able to attract superstars.  So, if Howard walks, it will just be a matter of time before the next guy comes around.

Plus Bynum is only under contract for one more year himself.

[MBunge]

Bynum is quickly becoming every bit Howard's equal.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.  Playing with another big like Gasol makes everything a whole lot easier for Bynum.  Imagine what Howard would be like if he came to Boston and played with KG, even in his declining years.

Mike