Dwight Howard is one of the most valued players in the current NBA. Ask every GM who the best center in the league is, and all 30 will say Howard. With true, effective centers so scarce, and Howard making it clear he wants out of Orlando, it makes sense that teams like the Lakers, the Rockets, and the Nets are going hard after him.
Some have even discussed the advantages of getting Howard in a Boston uniform. Yes, a Rondo-Howard pairing would be truly frightening... probably the best PG-C duo in the league. So that's the obvious positive. However, I think there are far more negatives to acquiring Howard - other than his personality, mind you - that make it irresponsible for the Celtics to go after him. And here they are.
First, we cannot sign Howard after this season. There is not even close to enough cap space. If Howard is not on the Celtics by the end of this year, he will not be on the Celtics for many, many years, if ever.
So, to get Howard, we have to trade for him. Meaning, we can't get him without giving something truly valuable up. Here are some realistic packages for Howard, and the drawbacks of each.
1. Rondo, Melo, Sullinger, picks
This is one of the best packages the Magic could get. They get a prolific player in Rondo, and young, cheap size in Melo and Sullinger. The Celtics lose this trade for those reasons. They give up their best player and way too much young talent.
2. Green, Bass, Bradley, Sullinger
The Celtics again have to give up a lot of young talent, and more importantly, depth. Unless the Celtics took back some bad contracts like Turkoglu, they are an extremely thin team following this trade. I might add that we would not be able to take back bad contracts here, as the salaries wouldn't match up.
3. Pierce, Bass, Melo, Sullinger
Of the three options, this probably makes the most sense from a basketball standpoint. The Celtics give up an aging player and some size that will be offset by Howard. However, it still doesn't make sense, as Pierce means so much more to this team than Howard ever will. Say what you will, but the Celtics probably will not trade Pierce. Ever.
These are the best options for the Celtics and Magic. If #2 or #3 goes through, we do have that dynamic Rondo-Howard pairing. But what I haven't mentioned yet is how Garnett fits into all of this.
If Howard comes to Boston, KG will no longer be playing center. He will slide back to PF, his preferred, but worse position. In 2010-11, KG played mostly PF, and averaged 14.9 and 8.9. Now, that's not too shabby, but in reality, those are very Brandon Bass-like numbers. In almost the exact same minutes per game in 2011-12, Bass averaged 12.5 and 6.2, only 2.4 and 2.7 less than KG in 30 minutes.
In addition, at KG's... heightened age... playing PF wears him down much more than playing center. At some point during one of those 22 back-to-backs, KG won't be able to keep up with the likes of Bosh, Aldridge, etc., and will become far less effective.
Lastly, as we all know, there is no guarantee that Howard will resign with Boston after this year, so we could be giving up a large package for nothing.
To review, to get Howard in Boston, we would have to...
1. Give up Rondo or some combination of Green, Bass, Pierce, Bradley, and young talent and picks.
2. Slide KG to PF, where he is far less effective at this stage in his career.
3. Deal with Howard's negative locker room presence.
4. Potentially lose Howard in the offseason, thereby giving up talent for a rental.
It just doesn't make sense for Boston. We're a better team with our current assets, and we should hang on to them in this case. I'm not saying in every case; there are certainly some trades that make sense, it's just not this one. All we can do is hope that Howard doesn't end up in Los Angeles or Miami.
Topic: Does going after Dwight even make sense? (Read 6623 times)