Dwight Howard said he wanted to be traded because Otis Smith didn’t make any of the moves he asked him to make. Then he said he loves the city of Orlando and there’s no place he’d rather play out the rest of his career so long as the organization was willing to change. That was Sunday and Monday respectively.
Now on Tuesday, reports are surfacing that he’d only sign an extension with four NBA teams. Three possible trade partners, and of course the Magic too.
This from ESPN’s Chris Broussard:
There are only four teams that Howard would sign a long-term contract with, according to a source close to the situation — the Magic, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers
That severely limits the trade possibilities for Orlando, which has said it will not rule out trading Howard to any of the league’s 29 other teams. Without a long-term commitment from Howard, no club is likely to put an enticing offer on the table.
Howard’s stance essentially relegates the Magic, whose ideal scenario is to re-sign Howard, to trade talks only with the Nets, Mavericks and Lakers.
There has been speculation that the Chicago Bulls might be a possible destination for Howard because the Bulls offer a big-city environment, a superstar in Derrick Rose, and plenty of talent to send back to Orlando. But Howard’s refusal to sign there ends that possibility.
I don’t think I’m alone in saying I’d be much more able to deal with these superstar trade me soap-operas in the NBA if dudes were just honest about why they wanted to be here or there. Maybe they have a favorite cousin in some town, want to work in Hollywood, want to be somewhere warm, somewhere cold, whatever. Just don’t say it’s only about winning every time when clearly that’s not true.
If Howard’s reasons for wanting to leave Orlando revolve completely around winning then why not go to Chicago? Don’t think Derrick Rose gives you enough of a chance to make that happen? According to my calculations, Derrick Rose + Dwight Howard + three guys from the stands = Competitive At Least Everynight.
Meanwhile, the Lakers and Mavericks have aging superstars in Kobe and Dirk, and the Nets have an owner running for President of Russia. Not saying those teams couldn’t win with Dwight too I just think Chicago would be unstoppable.
