NBA Rumors: Warriors Pursuit of Dwight Howard Is Hopeless

The Golden State Warriors are convinced that they can bring in Dwight Howard, but this is just another Bay Area pipe dream. 

Granted, the Warriors do have some attractive assets.

Monta Ellis is often criticized, but there's only a handful of guys in the league who can drop 25-30 points every night, and he's one of them. David Lee, for all his defensive deficiencies, is one of the best offensive post players in the league. And Klay Thompson is a smooth-shooting rookie with the potential to have a Richard Hamilton/Reggie Miller type career.

But unfortunately for Golden State, they can't put together an offer that would trump the L.A. Lakers or Chicago Bulls, and Orlando would rather let Dwight walk in the offseason instead of biting on a lopsided trade.

Howard is the best center in the league, and he's quickly transforming into a global brand. The biggest question, though, is how willing is he to turn down the extra $30 million he could net in Orlando?

San Francisco is the ninth-largest media market in the league, but it pales in comparison to the lucrative opportunities in Chicago and L.A. And while he could make some major bank in those cities, is it really worth leaving 30 mil on the table?

The Bulls and Lakers can also kill Golden State's chances by offering Orlando more attractive trade packages. The Lakers can offer Andrew Bynum, who is the best possible consolation prize for the Magic in this situation. And the Bulls can throw together some combination of Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng,Taj Gibson and Omer Asik.

At the end of the day, there's just no way the Warriors can strike gold in the Dwight Howard lotto. Warriors fans deserve a franchise savior, and I would love to see Dwight working his magic with Stephen Curry in the Bay Area.

Unfortunately, it just isn't realistic at this point.