NBA Rumors: Warriors Making Huge Mistake with Continued Pursuit of Dwight Howard

The Golden State Warriors have joined in on the pursuit of Dwight Howard, as they are the hip new team looking to rent the big man for the 2012-13 NBA season.

This isn't the first time Golden State has looked at trading for the big man, as they looked at Howard back in February, trying to trade for him despite the fact that he would have refused to sign an extension past the 2012 season. That's the same tune he's singing just five months later.

It makes sense that any team would want to trade for Howard, and it even makes sense for a few of them to take the chance on renting the big man, even if he were to bail at the end of the season, but one of those teams is not Golden State.

Any team on the verge of a title who could risk moving some of their key cogs to trade for the man, any middling team looking to grab headlines, bring fans in and have some fun for a year or any team with the guile to pick him up now, try to woo him during the season and if he doesn't bite by the time the trade deadline comes around that would go ahead and flip him for draft picks would make sense to go for him. 

Golden State is not one of those teams.

The Warriors are nowhere near being on the verge of a title, they've been near the bottom of the league for most of the last decade, topping 40 wins just twice, and it's crazy to think that anyone running the Warriors has the guile to trade for him and flip him after just a few months.

Basically, if Golden State were to trade for Dwight Howard, they would have to give up at least three out of four of Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes (it would be assumed that they're trying to pair him with Steph Curry to convince him to stay beyond next season), leaving them with one of those four guys, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, Dorell Wright and Hedo Turkoglu, whose contract they would have to take back in the deal.

A starting five of Curry-Wright-Jefferson-Terrible Power Forward X-Howard isn't that bad, but a bench of Turkoglu and Rush leaves them six players deep and not nearly defensively skilled enough to crack the top four in the Western Conference.

Then you have to weigh what Dwight Howard you're getting in that equation as well. In the past few months we've seen Howard handle his situation in a fashion rivaling LeBron James and The Decision, only drawing it out longer and stomping on more toes.

That Dwight Howard destroys this team before he gets there, but more likely you'll get a guy who is calm and accepts the trade initially, only to stomp his feet some more as the season gets rolling.

Let's say from there they go on to the playoffs, make it to the second round and lose to San Antonio or Los Angeles, then what?

Basically, Dwight Howard walks or they finagle a sign-and-trade for him with the Nets where they get a few soon-to-be crappy draft picks in return and they're left holding the bill for a drunken honeymoon with Dwight Howard.

From there they have no reason to keep Steph Curry on such a terrible team, so they might as well trade him off as well, becoming, most likely, the worst team in the NBA by a head and probably shoulders as well.

Can this franchise survive yet another bottoming-out? Will the fans stand behind such wanton disregard to logic and normal team growth that the management seems to have at that point?

Sure, they'll be ready to rebuild, but at what cost? They rebuilt once around Monta Ellis, now they are re-rebuilding around Curry. There's nothing to gain from having to rebuild again around draft picks and crushed dreams a year from now.

Unless they can get a commitment from Dwight Howard, which seems implausible at this point, trading for the big man would be a disaster before the ink dried on the deal.