[Insider]Dwight Howard fits in Houston

We do. He dumb.

 

Everything Jarrod brings up here has merit. There is no way that Dwight re-signs there unless the team truly becomes his and he knows it is going to take the direction he wants to go. That almost certainly includes the coach and who they are going to sign after next season and who is going to actually run the front office. Dwight will do his talking behind the scenes with all his buddies. And I suspect his agent and him are going to be able to decipher that Lebron is not really going to come to LA to play with him. Once they figure that out (they may already have figured it out), then they're gonna figure who else is out there in 2014 that they can bring in to compete. Can they get Chris Paul to pull a power play with the Clips and refuse to sign long-term there so he can move over to the Lakers?

There is a huge cloak-and-dagger game that is being played out in Laker land that is going to escalate the second they step off the floor for the last time in the 12/13 season.

The underlying problem is the fact that Jim Buss is not his daddy. He doesn't have Jerry's charisma. He has not endeared himself to players nor coaches nor agents. Jim Buss is a huge problem for the Laker organization and he is in control of it.

While I personally think Jarrod is a jerk (I've dealt with him enough to know he has a pompous attitude about his relationship with Dwight), I consider what he says with double weight right now. It all adds up. I'm not saying Dwight is leaving LA. I am saying for Dwight to stay in LA they are going to have to lay out a plan that has merit, that he knows will happen. They have to have a plan for getting at least one more YOUNG top 10 player to play alongside him for the long term, whether that be Kevin Love or somehow acquiring Paul or Deron Williams or somebody else. Just telling Dwight that they are going to go after Lebron in '14 isn't going to work. Because Dwight does have options. Houston is waiting for him. So he's got Houston as leverage with the Lakers to force them to be very definitive and Dwightable about the future.

The question really is what are they going to come up with? Who are they going to get to come there in '14? The questions all center around what Jarrod wrote. Why would Dwight waste another year playing with an even older Kobe and Nash, with or without an aging Pau (whom Dwight really doesn't like) just in hopes that they can build around him in 2014???

My gut instinct right now is the Lakers are screwed. I can't see how they can get anything of substance for Pau that would be the guy that would cause Dwight to stay. I can't see who is going to be there in 2014 that is going to want to run to the Lakers and play with Dwight that would cause Dwight to take the risk of playing through next season in hopes of the Lakers making a big free agent splash in 2014. I can't see Jim Buss ceding control of the organization over to Jeanie (which is what he really needs to do to save them). I think Jarrod is right. I think even if Dwight stays there that they will be in decline for the next several seasons at least. I can only see one light at the end of the tunnel for them. That is if they re-sign Dwight and somehow get Minny to give them Love for Pau. That would give them the path into the Dwight era.

 

Howard won't leave the Lakers....

Lakers will pay more than any other team and it's a championship team....I HATE the Lakers but Howard will re-sign

 

As we all realize that is a long shot. However, before the other posters totally crap on your post, I will agree with you that this is either option #1 or option #2 for Morey. I only say option #2 because I'm not quite sure how he feels about Paul vs. Lin going forward since Lin has a few years on him, Paul has an impending knee problem, and Paul will be making max dollars. So, there's some question in my mind as to whether Morey prefers Paul to Lin because of those reasons. However, if the deal was that we had to sign them both to sign them, then I am convinced Morey would move Asik/Lin and heaven and earth to get both buys in here.

Only one thing I see differently. I think we could actually trade Asik/Lin/TRob/etc. for pure salary cap space and future draft picks for ourselves. I don't see any need to work a S&T with the Clippers to get Paul UNLESS the Clippers were the ones giving us picks to get us to do a deal with them. If Dwight and Paul want to come here and play then we have the leverage because of the fact that Asik/Lin are very, very good players and because of the potential of guys like TRob/TJones/DMo. They can be converted into straight salary cap space and picks somewhere else. ATL would gladly take Asik off our hands for a future pick or two if they see they aren't going to get Dwight. In my opinion, Ainge would give up Rondo and one of either Terry/Lee or a plethora of youngsters including Jordan Crawford's expiring for Asik/Lin and some combination of TRob/Royce/Ohlbrecht. We could then turn Rondo and those guys into future picks. Or we could piece out the guys individually for cap space to multiple destinations....whichever deals yielded us the most net future picks.

We then sign Paul and Howard outright. You've got:

Paul/Beverley
Harden/Anderson
Parsons/(whoever, possibly Delfino)
Dwight/(whoever, possibly Greg Smith, possibly Ohlbrecht)
Whoever is left of our PFs./2nd round pick (I home Doug McDermott)

When this scenario unfolds and both LA teams see they are going to lose their guys for nothing, they will probably be begging for some kind of sign and trade deal which simply ups the ante on what future value we can extract for our current talent. I see absolutely NO REASON to do a sign and trade with the Lakers because of the fact that we should be able to get a future first round pick out of Asik, preferrably from a team out East, somebody like Philly or Atlanta or possibly Charlotte. I could see a reason to do a S&T with the Clippers using Lin and Asik's salaries if we could set up a multiple team deal that would net us Paul and a PF after we sign Dwight outright. (I'm thinking about a possible 3-way with Milwaukee for Ilyasova or even a possible 3-way with ATL or Utah for Smith or Millsap depending on their price tags.)

The point is there is a myriad of ways to acquire both Dwight and Paul and set ourselves up for the future with plenty of future draft picks to build around our new Big 3....provided both DWIGHT AND PAUL WANT TO COME HERE. We won't have to entice the Clips and Lakers into sign and trades and give them future picks and divest ourselves of all our assets to make these deals happen. Too many teams looking for good to great talent on a budget. We got that in spades.

 

It all depends if Phil Jackson come back, or not. It will not be fun for Dwight in Lala land because every home games, he get to see Shaq's jersey number hanging on the rafter. If he wanted to stay in LA, he would of re-signed already.

 

Kevin Love of course would be ideal for the Lakers. But if they couldn't do that, they could always move Gasol for Josh Smith to get one of Howard's boys on board. They would still have work to do, but it might be enough to appease DH.

 

LA is over the luxury tax threshold and can't do sign and trade deals.

 

Ah, thanks for that CBA nugget. I haven't caught up with all of the changes. That is good to know!

 

They can't sign-and-trade for Smith because they are over the apron. Only way they can get Smith is for Atlanta or some other team to sign him and then trade him to the Lakers in mid-November. And then I suspect the league might look at that trade two or three times for circumvention of the CBA before they went ahead and approved it.

But...honestly don't think DHO and JSmoove playing in tandem wins them anything. OH, they'd lock down the paint. But they'd also lock down the salary cap. And it would be hack-a-Laker big down the stretch.

 

False. They cannot receive free agents in a sign and trade. They are free to do a sign and trade where they are the ones trading away the FA (Dwight).

 

ROFL!

 

It appears winds of change are blowing.

 

Kobe injury cause have huge repercussions for the NBA landscape..

 

Does Howard really have the balls? I mean what would even be the point

 

correct, but in the scenario you replied to....Josh Smith would be the SnT, not Howard.

With Smith's contract being up, the thought process is that ATL would be signing Smith and trading him to the Lakers to make Howard happy.

 

Good catch, Lakers are unable to do that

 

No, D.Ho has too much ego and we already have a big one with Harden. Moreover, D. Ho is proven a team chemistry killer wherever he goes. Houston needs nothing of that.

 

What indicates that Harden has a big ego?

 

Maybe I've got my red-tinted glasses on but I just can't see why Howard wouldn't want to come to Houston, at least from a winning perspective. I know LA is LA. The glitz, the glam, the media, etc. But they are now stuck in a rut, with 3 aging, hurt injured players taking up, what, $40 million?

In Houston, Howard would be surrounded by 3 point shooters and two dynamic guards who would love to get him the ball. Harden is unselfish, and it would be a 1a/1b duo. We could throw away T-Rob for a second round pick, and clear space that way. Howard could not coexist with Asik; not unless he develops a mid-range shot. We'd need to trade off Asik (and yes, it hurts to say it) for a stretch four (I'm high on Ryan Anderson).

Lin/Bev
Harden/Defensive SG
Parsons/Delfino
Stretch 4/Jones
Howard/Smith

That's a hell of a lineup if you fill in the gap with the best fits.

On the flipside, if Howard does resign with LA or goes to Atlanta p), I think Houston should look into signing either Josh Smith or Paul Millsap. See how that goes and down the road try and flip them for K. Love.