NBA Trade Rumors: Trading Dwight Howard to Warriors Doesn't Make Sense for Magic

There may only be four teams on Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard's list of squads he would re-sign with, but that hasn't stopped others from getting involved in trade talks. The latest is the Golden State Warriors, but the Magic should just move on.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Warriors have been aggressive in their pursuit of Howard and are willing to give up one of their two young guards in Stephen Curry or Monta Ellis. Also, they may take on the remaining three years of Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu's hefty contract.

While both Curry and Ellis have a lot of potential, neither is a suitable centerpiece in a trade for Howard. The Magic essentially run everything on both offense and defense through Howard. While there may not be another center in the league capable of handling that burden, the Magic need to get a suitable big in return for "Superman."

That would likely involve striking a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers involving Andrew Bynum or, to a lesser extent, getting Brook Lopez from the New Jersey Nets. Both Curry and Ellis have proven to be great offensive players in their young careers, but neither has been able to carry the Warriors to any sort of sustained success.

It isn't likely that would change in Orlando, especially since the loss of Howard would leave the Magic without any type of post presence whatsoever. Just like Howard is "the guy" in Orlando right now, either Curry or Ellis would have to take on that same role.

If the Magic already had a great supporting cast in place then I could see how this type of deal would be beneficial. Ultimately, it would leave the cupboard dry in terms of an interior presence, though, and either Curry or Ellis would join an already-crowded backcourt featuring Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick among others.

Provided the Magic were able to swing Howard for a player like Bynum or Lopez, they could essentially maintain the integrity of their game plan. Bringing in Curry or Ellis would force a complete shift in paradigm in order to account for new personnel.

I'm not saying that Curry and Ellis are bad players or that you can't win with them, but they're a much better fit with Golden State than they would be in Orlando. The Magic eventually have to make a decision on Howard or they risk losing him in free agency, but it's a big decision to make, so they have to be selective.