We are over the cap so we could just send 2nd rounders. We would need to match salary. That is the advantage that Portland had. This is not something that the Celtics could have done.
Prior to waiving T-Will this morning, I believe that a poster did the math and that T-Will, along with all the other non-guaranteed contracts, would make a trade for T-Rob work. Houston could then proceed to waive the players they get and free up cap space.
That is correct. However, it's possible that this deal with Portland is contingent on Howard agreeing with Houston, which would have caused some problems with the partial guarantee of Williams' salary.
"So, in addition to all the great points we've made already, we've cleared cap space so we can sign you as soon as you want. You're that important to us."
"You're not even on our team yet so we're not going to gamble with trading away T-Rob to clear cap space. However, if you tell us you're 100% signing with us, then we'll move him."
Which one makes Dwight more wanted? I don't think they made this trade because they knew they're going to get Howard. They made this trade to further better their chances of landing him.