NBA Rumors: Tracy McGrady Speaks the Truth About Dwight Howard

Believe it or not, Tracy McGrady is still playing these days.

He doesn't do much, mind you. McGrady comes off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks, providing points in relief of Joe Johnson. He's not what he once was, but he's hanging around.

But McGrady still knows a thing or two about the NBA. So when he and the Hawks took on the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night, it's no surprise that someone asked him about the possibility of Dwight Howard teaming up with Deron Williams on the Nets in the near future.

McGrady told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the very idea is a pipe dream.

“I can’t see him coming here,” he said. “If it’s just Dwight and D-Will, he’s better off just staying in Orlando. You want to go to a team that’s championship caliber, and just him and D-Will won’t get it done. There’s got to be other pieces around to make it look sweet.”

I'm typically not one to toot my own horn, but I made this exact same point in a column about Howard's Nets dream last week. It takes more than two superstars to make a championship basketball team. In fact, if we learned one thing from the Miami Heat last season, it's that three superstars may not even be enough.

Whether he goes there via trade or via free agency, Howard would most definitely make the Nets a better team. With him and Williams on the floor night in and night out, the Nets would immediately become contenders in the Eastern Conference.

The trouble is that the Nets would have to make a sizable financial commitment to Howard and Williams, which would leave little wiggle room for them to bring in suitable complementary pieces.

Instead of holding out hope of joining the Nets, McGrady has a better idea for Howard: join the Dallas Mavericks.

“D-Will is from Dallas,” he said. “You’ve got Dirk Nowitzki there. They’re going to have [cap space] there. That looks sweet. Dirk. D-Will. And then you get Dwight Howard. That’s it, right there.”

It's a legit possibility. Howard can be a free agent after this season if he wants, and so can D-Will. If both of them are available, the Mavericks would at least kick the tires on acquiring both of them. We are, after all, talking about Mark Cuban.

If Howard doesn't want to go to Dallas, he could always try teaming with Derrick Rose in Chicago. McGrady thinks that would work too.

“Hell yes, championship,” McGrady said. “Championship. There’s no doubt about it.”

The time to start coming to grips with these possibilities is now. Howard could have been traded to the Nets before the start of the season, but it's highly, highly unlikely that he will be dealt to New Jersey during the season now that Brook Lopez is hurt. 

The Magic could certainly get desperate enough to take the best (or first) offer they get for Howard this season, but that's going to be hard for them to do as long as they are winning. The trade deadline could come and go with Howard staying in Orlando.

If it does, he will become a free agent with plenty of options.

Wherever he goes, it will be championship or bust.