NBA Trade Rumors: Warriors Making a Mistake Trying to Rent Dwight Howard

To say that the addition of Dwight Howard to a Golden State Warriors front court that currently features Andris Biedrins, David Lee, Kwame Brown and Ekpe Udoh would not make this team immensely better would be a bold-faced lie.

But, how much better would this team be with 50-plus games (if they're lucky) of Howard? And what is the going rate for 50-plus games of Howard?

With the Warriors reportedly aggressively pursuing Howard, combined with the lukewarm response from Orlando, one would think Magic general manager Otis Smith will go David Stern on the Warriors, naming a ridiculously high price and then increasing that price by the day.

Would a package of oft-injured Stephen Curry, rookie Klay Thompson, second-year big man Udoh and offseason steal Brandon Rush be enough for Orlando?

Given that Smith already has had talks centered around multiple first-round picks, along with the Nets' Brook Lopez or the NBA's second best big man, the Lakers' Andrew Bynum, it's doubtful.

With the Magic also looking to shed swingman Hedo Turkoglu's remaining three years and $30 million, the Warriors' package would need to include some bigger salaries for the numbers to jive. But how much better are David Lee's $70 million over five years or Andris Biedrins' $27 million over the next three seasons?

Maybe the better question is, are those contracts actually worse than Turkoglu's? Or where would those deals even fit on a team looking to rebuild after the league's latest superstar departure?

Outside of the players listed above (although that list can be probably be ignored save for Curry), the Warriors' only "coveted" assets are Monta Ellis and Dorell Wright.

Ellis has been sensational this season (23.8 points, 8.2 assists), but he's owed $33 million for the next three seasons and holds questionable value around the league. And given the fact that Ellis was one of the few players named by Howard as players he'd like to play with, it's hard to imagine that the Warriors would not try to hold on to him.

And as for Wright, the only positive thing to say about him is that his $8 million deal expires after next season. After leading the league in three-pointers last season and finishing third in the Most Improved Player Award voting, Wright has connected on just three of his 21 long-range attempts this season and struggled to contribute in any other meaningful way.

Even if the club somehow found the right pieces to accommodate the Magic's wish list, what reason is there to think that Howard would stay any longer than this season?

For starters, Howard's new supporting cast would be marginally better (if even better at all without knowing who'd be left after the deal) than the one he'd be leaving behind in Orlando. Could a Nate Robinson-Ellis-Wright-Lee-Howard lineup really contend for a championship?

Not to mention that the fact that it'd be next to impossible to sell Howard on growing his celebrity in the Bay Area. Despite having one of the league's better fanbases, the Warriors brand has struggled to stay a blip on the NBA's radar. The team has not even had an All-Star since 1997 (Latrell Sprewell) despite having worthy candidates for years (Ellis, Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, etc.).

For a franchise known for swinging wildly at big name targets (Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Paul just this offseason) or not even making it to the batter's box, just seeing Howard's name in the same sentence with the Warriors could (and should) excite the fanbase.

But would the benefit of his addition outweigh the costs being hamstrung with Turkoglu's contract for the next three seasons while watching Howard bolt to Los Angeles or Brooklyn next season?

Or, possibly, is half of a season of Howard really the best thing ownership feels that they can get in return for Curry and his bum ankle?