Dwight Howard Must Heed Chicago Tribune's Steven Rosenbloom's Wake Up Call

Steven Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune penned a column today about how the Bulls should not even bother pursuing someone as stupid as Dwight Howard if he doesn’t have a mutual interest.

He assesses Howard’s desire to play in a big market, not a better team and how the money he will get somewhere other than Orlando makes him a chump, not a champion.

His thesis is spot on.

The Orlando Magic big man has got to get his head on right and find some new people whispering in his ear if he actually wants to have a memorable NBA career.

Back in mid-December, Howard told the team that he wants to be traded, but would only sign a long-term extension with the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets.

Why would he choose these specific teams?

All three are considered “big” markets, but does he actually have the desire to win with them?

The Mavericks just won a championship, but are sputtering out of the gates without some of their core group and it’s Dirk Nowitzki’s town and will be until his retirement.

Los Angeles is the second-biggest market, but would have to give up too much in return for Howard and again, its Kobe Bryant’s city.

The Nets are the most puzzling choice, but they would be in the largest market next year when they move to Brooklyn.

However, Deron Williams’ future with the team is uncertain and even then, a core of D-Will and Dwight plus journeymen will not win many playoff games.

Does Dwight Howard want to play for a winner and have a collection of rings to go with his money at the end of his career? Or is he content to just be a big celebrity in a big city but never accomplish anything on the court?

He hasn’t made his choice verbally clear, but by requesting a trade to just those teams, and not a squad on the cusp of greatness like the Bulls, you can see that the latter is certainly the option he is leaning towards.

Rosenbloom asked,

"

“How come Howard hasn’t told his people that he wants to play for a winner? How come he hasn’t made it clear that all these trade requests and non-denial denials and general doubletalk don’t end with “because I want to win a title’’?

"

The answer is because he doesn’t.

And unless he gets a new agent and smarter people surrounding him, he’s going to make a dumb decision to play for a big market team that will never win anything.