NBA Trade Rumors: Is Dwight Howard to the Golden State Warriors a Pipe Dream?

The Golden State Warriors are throwing their hat into the ring for the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. It is by far the riskiest of hats thrown in. For every one else it's a gamble. For the Warriors, it's a parlay. 

Oakland is not on Howard's short list of teams which he'd re-sign with. That means that even if Golden State were to manage to work out a deal for him, would they have enough left to keep him?

According Adrian Wojnarowski,

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For the Magic to become intrigued with package, two things would likely have to appeal to them: rebuilding around young point guard Stephen Curry; and the Warriors’ salary-cap space to absorb the three years and $34 million left on Hedo Turkoglu’s contract. 

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Assuming that the Magic were to accept the trade, that could leave the Warriors with a pretty respectable starting lineup. If they wanted  to sweeten the pot they could offer the Magic the Nets pick for this year in a conditional deal.

Getting a future star point guard in the point guard-rich Eastern Conference, along with the Nets pick and cap space, would be a good way for the Magic to rebuild quickly. 

As for Golden State and their prospects, they could feasibly they could move Monta Ellis to the point and have Brandon Rush as their starting shooting guard. That would leave either Turkoglu or Brandon Wright at the small forward, David Lee at power forward and Howard at center.

That's a pretty competitive starting five—certainly enough to give Howard consideration about staying.

The other advantage is that by trading him they have one edge over everyone else, and it's a $30 million edge. They can offer Howard that extra year on the contract.

It's a dream for Golden State, but not necessarily a pipe dream. Coupling a great defensive player like Howard with a defensive mind lie Mark Jackson is a nice fit. Golden State is still a dark horse here, but don't count them out entirely.