If Brooklyn and Orlando are to make a deal for Howard in near-term, it will likely be a trade between the two teams, sources tell Y! Sports.
So...go Houston, its your birfday?
Try as he may, I still don't think Houston has what it takes. Everything they have is just too 'meh.'
Yeah, but they're doing it without taking on an extension.
If Howard is only going to sign an extension with the Nets, does that give the nets the necessary leverage to work out the trade?
Because for all the Atlanta hype, how are they gonna give up Horford and Teague without an extension?
Same got for LA with Bynum, or really anywhere else.
The only teams out there I see as a valid place to trade for Howard without an extension are Utah and Houston, because they've got guys/assets that are redundant but still valuable, and because its the only shot they're gonna get at a marquee free agent.
Something like this:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7bbmulr
What does Houston have that is as valuable as Brook Lopez?
Houston's collection of assets are more valuable than Brook Lopez on a max level extension. That's assuming he can regain his sophomore year form and be healthy.
Why do people have so much trouble understanding this concept. Orlando is trading Dwight, because he refuses to sign an extension with them. THey don't want to lose Dwight Howard for nothing. If Dwight continues to say he will leave any team other than Brooklyn that attempts to trade for him... why would any team give up a bunch of assets in order to put themselves in Orlando's situation?
FYI... we just saw Omar Asik get a contract paying him 15 mil in year three and we saw Roy HIbbert get a max contract. Big men are valuable in this league... especially a 7 foot 24 year old who gives you 20 points a night. If Orlando doesn't want Brook Lopez, I imagine some other team would gladly take him. I doubt anyone beats that offer... and if they do... their GM has balls of steel.
On Houston: People keep bringing them up. We don't know what the package is they are offering... we only know they were collecting a bunch of draft picks. Is it coincidence that all the Houston rumors came out BEFORE Dwight explicitly said he would never sign an extension with Houston?
On the Lakers: I imagine they'd give up Bynum for Dwight, because Bynum is only signed through this year anyways. But then Orlando is just putting themselves in the same situation since Bynum supposedly will not sign an extension with the Magic.
On Atlanta: No sense in giving up Horford and Teague if Dwight has no interest in re-signing there. It's Atlanta... if he's not signing an extension now, I doubt he's sticking around later.