Why Dwight Howard and Derron Williams Will Never Be Teammates

Deron Williams and Dwight Howard will never be teammates. I know this counters the trend of conventional wisdom and I reserve the right to be wrong. However, the reality is that it's looking less and less likely that it's going to happen. 

The reason is that it's looking more and more like neither player is going to get traded before the deadline. New Jersey simply can't afford to. They are hardly in the situation that Orlando is or New Orleans was. They aren't a team that can risk losing a franchise player. 

They are looking at losing a player that they gave up the franchise to get. 

They simply have to run the gamble that Williams is not going to say "no" to the extra money that comes with staying in New Jersey. Williams stands to get one more year and an additional $30 million if he remains in New Jersey. 

That's a lot of money. With the Nets moving to Brooklyn during that time as well, it also means a lot of money in endorsement deals. If we use the $8 million that Amar'e Stoudemire made in endorsements last year, that would mean another $40 million in endorsements over the same five years. 

Even in the world of the NBA's high contracts, that's a lot of money. 

Right now, the Nets are on the hook for $37 million next year. Giving Williams a max deal means they aren't going to have the money left to give Howard a max deal. 

Howard is going to want a max deal. New Jersey can't afford it. 

It's also looking like Otis Smith is going to call Howard's bluff and tell him, if you want to take less money and pay more taxes, go for it. Orlando doesn't even seem to be entertaining trade options right now. 

Therein lies the conundrum. As much as you hear about how it's not about the money, it almost always comes down to the money. You don't see a lot of cases like in the case of the the Heat, where superstars agreed to take less money just to keep playing together. 

Ultimately, Howard and Williams will stay where they are because money does talk and when you're talking about tens of millions of dollars, it talks loudly.