NBA Trade Rumors: Why Dwight Howard to the LA Clippers Is Just a Pipe Dream

Prior to the end of the lockout before a Chris Paul trade was rejected by David Stern then negotiated by the same, I argued that it was possible for the Clippers to land the services of both Paul and Dwight Howard. With Howard adding the Clippers to his list of teams that he would be willing to go to, I'm ready to gloat, right?

Wrong. In truth, it's pretty much impossible now. 

Things have changed. My previous argument was based on two things, trade assets and money. The Clippers now have neither. 

Well, technically they do have the trade asset to get Dwight Howard, but he's not going anywhere. The Magic would happily take Blake Griffin for Howard, but there's a zero percent chance of the Clippers trading him away. 

Aside from that there's this nugget form Yahoo! Sports:

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"Howard has soured on the idea of joining the Nets this season and missing the playoffs, especially since he could still join the Nets next summer prior to their move to Brooklyn and join a lineup that would include a re-signed Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Anthony Morrow and the Nets' lottery pick, which will be a good pick in a well-stocked draft," the site notes. That assumes Williams will re-sign, of course.

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And here's the thing I've been wondering when players were going to wise up to. If you insist on a trade before your contract expires, the team you're going to is losing a lot of quality to get you. If you wait and sign as a free agent, the team will be better. 

Imagine Deron Williams with Dwight Howard in the post and a player like Harrison Barnes on the wing and Brook Lopez as the power forward. That smells an awful lot like a contender. 

I think Howard has come to realize that teams like the Clippers and Knicks have had to give up so much to get the star player that they've lost some of their gusto. He seems to be content to merely wait and sign. 

Now the Clippers did have the money to get both, but they don't anymore because they overspent on DeAndre Jordan. They simply don't have the money to land Howard as a free agent anymore and they don't have the trade assets to get him through trade. Unless they can somehow convince Otis Smith that Jordan is a good enough return for Howard, I just don't see this happening.