Derrick Rose vs. Dwight Howard: Who Will Win a Title First?

Who could ever forget the image of Michael Jordan breaking down in tears as he pressed his forehead to the elusive golden sphere at the top of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy—the same one that he'd sought for so long?

It's that image that players like Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard should have in the forefront of their minds as they lay their heads down at night to go to sleep. 

A championship is something that every player strives for. Some legends like Bill Russell have the privilege of filling up their fingers with ring after ring. Some, like Elgin Baylor and Patrick Ewing, retire with fingers as empty as those of an infant. 

So, which of the two players in question will win the final game of a season and be crowned world champions first? Will it be Rose or Howard? 

That's the question that Bart Rich and I attempted to answer here as we each took the side of an Eastern Conference All-Star.

You'll find my opinion first, but don't leave the article until you've read Bart's argument and voted in our poll as well. For those of you who don't recognize his name from our previous debates—about James Harden and Brian Wilson's beards and the coolest player in the history of each NBA franchise, as well as his contributions to the should-be-famous All-Time Basketball Mock Draft—Bart is one of my closest friends and one of the best basketball minds I have the pleasure of interacting with. 

Without further ado, let's debate. And keep in mind that Bart and I have a serious affinity for hyperlinks when we debate, so click on all of them to get the full experience.  

The Case for Dwight Howard

by Adam Fromal

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain. Shaquille O'Neal. Patrick Ewing. Hakeem Olajuwon. Bill Walton. George Mikan. Moses Malone. David Robinson. Willis Reed. 

In the ears of NBA fans, those names all mean something. They carry with them visions of dominance in the paint, tremendous ability cleaning up the boards and gifted footwork and/or power on the offensive end.

We fans picture Kareem's unstoppable shot, Russell's blocking prowess, Wilt's statistical dominance, Shaq's sheer power, Ewing's unstoppable baseline jumper, Hakeem's Dream Shake, Walton's outlet passing skills, Mikan's toughness, Malone's nose for rebounding, Robinson's picturesque stateliness and Reed limping out onto the court in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals.  

There's a reason I listed Reed and his gritty entrance to that final game of the 1969-1970 season last. It's to remind you that—with the exception of Ewing, who played for basketball's version of the Chicago Cubs throughout the part of his career that actually mattered—each and every one of these historically great centers dominated their era and was rewarded with a title at some point. A few of them (cough, Bill, cough) hogged the titles.

When it's all said and done, Dwight Howard and his massive shoulders will deserve to be listed alongside these legends, and that territory comes with an inevitable ring. 

The same simply cannot be said about point guards, even though they're commonly viewed as the most integral position on the basketball court. John Stockton never won a title. Steve Nash still hasn't. Oscar Robertson couldn't win one until he teamed up with the master of the skyhook himself. 

In the grand scheme of things, it's just a safer bet to roll with the big men over the little engines that could win a title.

Just in case you aren't convinced yet, I still haven't even mentioned yet why Howard, as an individual, has a greater likelihood of success than Rose.

Each player is at or near the top of his position in the NBA. There's really no denying that.

While you can make a convincing argument for Chris Paul's greatness reigning supreme, D-Rose is currently sitting firmly atop the leaderboard of point guards. What he can do with a basketball is simply breathtaking, especially when the game is on the line.

I have absolutely no clue what divine power gives the Bulls' floor general the otherworldly ability to go about his business. He routinely makes plays that leave my jaw dropped all the way down to the ground and my hand scratching at my head. His body control and ability to finish around the basket despite the massive defenders trying to stop him is simply sublime.

Take this play, when Rose drove past Rajon Rondo, a terrific defender in his own right, and then absorbed contact from both Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass while spinning and somehow maintaining control of the basketball. Somehow, he still got enough spin on the ball to kiss it off the glass and into the basket.

Rose's offensive contributions are unmatched by any other point guard in the league, or at least, that's what the metric I recently developed and called Playmaker Rating tells me. 

And now that I've given enough credit to the player who currently personifies greatness at the point-guard position (and you can't possibly accuse me of being a Rose hater), I'm going to move on to Howard. 

I don't need any flowing Ciceronian rhetoric or breathtaking video clips of Howard to prove that he's the best center in the league. Who else are you going to nominate? Andrew Bynum? Marc Gasol? Roy Hibbert? 

Please. Get a grip on yourself. Let's move on.

The first possibility for chasing down that tough, first championship will come this summer. Admittedly, the Chicago Bulls are a hell of a lot closer to winning a title at the end of the 2011-2012 campaign than the Orlando Magic.

Chicago has—in addition to Rose, of course—the perfect small forward in the form of Luol Deng, a solid frontcourt of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah and a solid shooting guard in Rip Hamilton, if he can ever stay healthy. And that's a massive, monumental "if."

Orlando hasn't really changed much since the Atlanta Hawks knocked them out of the playoffs last year. If anything, they've declined as a team, even if they do still remain fringe contenders in the East.

But if we're being realistic, the Magic's shot at winning a title is about the same as Otis Smith's chances of making consecutive, solid roster decisions: nil, none, zilch, nada, zip, zero. 

Then again, does any team in the Eastern Conference have a shot at winning a title if it's not from South Beach? The Miami Heat remain the prohibitive favorites in the weaker of the two conferences, and we appear to be geared up for another sensational Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Heat.

Even if Rose does manage to engineer an upset (and a Chicago victory over the Heat in the 2012 NBA Playoffs would be an upset even if the Bulls entered the series with a higher seed), he'd still have to get through the Oklahoma City Thunder or whoever else emerges from the Western Conference. 

What I'm trying to say is that it's pointless to only look at this year to settle our debate. I'd rather look at the next few years.

We all know that Howard's situation with the Magic is tenuous at best. He's either going to be traded right before the deadline or wait until the free-agency period to sign with a new, better team. The only way he's staying in Orlando is if they make a move to bring in a better second-best player than Ryan Anderson.

There are three far more realistic locations for Howard next year: 

1. On the Los Angeles Lakers, playing alongside Kobe Bryant and hoping to kindle some of that Shaq-Kobe magic from the early 2000s (the on-court magic only, because I doubt Dwight's emcee skills are at the same level as the original Superman's).

2. On the Brooklyn Nets, waiting in the post as Deron Williams feeds him the ball and MarShon Brooks lights it up from outside.

3. On the Dallas Mavericks, waiting in the post as Deron Williams feeds him the ball and Dirk Nowitzki lights it up from everywhere.

Rose, on the other hand, will be playing with a team that is virtually the same. With only John Lucas and Brian Scalabrine ready for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2012, it's not like the Bulls are going to have the cap room to sign a marquee free agent. Then again, they aren't losing anyone big either. 

All three of those options for Howard would immediately vault D12 into the upper echelon of title contenders. That potential Mavs team should terrify everyone else in the NBA. 

You could argue that continuity matters, and the Bulls would have an inherent advantage over whatever team Dwight winds up playing for in 2012-2013, but sometimes, talent manages to trump that cohesiveness.

Just like Rose, Dwight is one of the five-best players in the league. For the record, my top five right now would include LeBron, Rose, Howard, Kevin Durant and CP3, in some order.

But while Rose doesn't have a top-10 teammate to pass the ball to—unless you're a Sudanese-American with British citizenship who has ties to Duke and grew up rooting for the Chicago Bulls, therefore making it a necessity that you consider Deng a top-10 player in the league—Howard would, regardless of where he ended up. After all, the choices are either Kobe, Dirk and D-Will, or just D-Will.

In this debate, everything is about what could potentially happen. Dwight's side has the inherent advantage because every realistic possibility gives him the edge in the future.

Both of these players should get to put rings on their fingers before their careers end. But Dwight is going to end up grinning from ear to ear, just like he always does, as the confetti falls down around him just a little bit sooner.   

The Case for Derrick Rose

by Bart Rich

Usually, these are the arguments that we NBA fans have around the water cooler. It’s the discussion you have during a mid-January matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic, when you've settled into the rhythm of the game and your mind starts to wonder: Who will win a ring first, Dwight Howard or Derrick Rose?

However, with the trade deadline a little over a week away, questions like this are more compelling than ever.

With trade rumors flying and the potential for another blockbuster summer in free agency, we could be facing another significant redistribution of talent depending on the future of one Mr. Dwight David Howard. But despite all of the wild speculation, I’m here to tell you that none of it will make a difference because our reigning MVP, Rose, will win a title before Dwight ever does.

While Dwight is surrounded by the rumors theorizing where he’ll be next year, Rose is all stability. Locked into his contract through 2016 and 100 percent committed to Chicago, he doesn’t have any of the distractions plaguing Howard. That constancy has given the Bulls the chance to build around Rose, and because of it, they are legitimate contenders for this year’s title.

Compared to the Bulls, the flaws of this year’s Magic team are well-documented. Inconsistent effort, streaky outside shooting and overall stagnation have troubled Orlando as Dwight’s imminent departure has loomed over their season. Even if Dwight finishes out the season in Orlando, the Bulls are so much closer to a championship than the Magic.

One of the most complete teams in the league, Chicago has very few holes to fill. Derrick Rose is top-two at his position and unparalleled in terms of athleticism and playmaking. Luol Deng has broken out in a big way this year as an All-Star, and he brings everything you want in a SF to the table: lengthy, can create his own shot, good outside jumper and an overall talented athlete.

Carlos Boozer is finally rounding back into form after his struggles last year, and Joakim Noah is the scrappy rebounder and antagonist whom his teammates adore and opposing players and fans loathe. (Trust me, it's not hard.)

Tom Thibodeau is one of the top-three coaches in the NBA—if not the best—and Chicago has the deepest, most athletic bench in the league. When you can bring a guy like Taj Gibson off the bench, and he can do this, you’re in great shape.

Yet, they still need that final piece that pushes them over the edge, lifting them past the elite contenders and making them odds-on favorites. To borrow from the Stones, they’re just a shot away, particularly an outside shot.

If the Bulls can find a consistent, talented shooting guard, they will be unstoppable. A quality 2-guard would spread the floor and take the pressure off Rose as the primary scorer, distributor and overall offensive savant.

Many people, including myself, thought that the addition of Rip Hamilton this year would be the answer. But, Rip’s struggles with staying healthy and finding his game have prevented him from giving the Bulls that extra push. Rip has no choice but to turn it on in the second half and take back what’s rightfully his, or else relinquish his mask-wearing crown to Kobe forever.

But while much of the focus on this summer’s free agency is centered on the whereabouts of Howard and Deron Williams, the potential signing that could have the biggest impact on the NBA world could come from Chicago. If he decides to depart from Boston in search of another ring as an unrestricted free agent, the perfect addition to the Bulls would be none other than Jesus Shuttlesworth himself—Ray Allen.

Ray-Ray would give the Bulls the floor spacing and clutch scoring they so desperately need, especially when their go-to play at the end of games is “Stay out of Derrick’s way.” If the Bulls can shed the contracts of Kyle Korver or Hamilton in a trade or buyout, they will have the cap space to secure Allen and become the front-runners for next year’s title.

Now with all that said, neither Rose nor Howard is winning a title before a couple more banners are raised down in Miami. For full disclosure, as an avid Miami Heat fan, I will defend my boys in South Beach until I devolve into some incoherent, rambling about how unappreciated Joel Anthony is as a starting center (he isn’t).

But I genuinely think both of these guys have to go through the Heat and/or the brilliance of Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder before they will reign over the Association as world champs.

However, the strongest reason why I’m convinced Rose can win before Howard is because as a Heat fan, I am terrified of facing the Bulls again in the Eastern Conference Finals. While I have great confidence in this Miami squad in year two, that Miami-Chicago series will be the stuff of legend for the next few years.

Both teams are only improving, and it’s a rivalry that has the potential to equal classic matchups like Knicks-Pacers or Pistons-Celtics.

But as far as Dwight and the Magic go? Meh.

The thought of Derrick Rose catching fire in the Amway Center has me shaking in my boots, but I’ve seen the Heat face up against Dwight. If he stays with the Magic, there’s no way that Dwight can get through the Heat or the Bulls. This Magic squad will have trouble moving past a team like the Philadelphia 76ers or Indiana Pacers in the playoffs.

Imagine if you took Dwight off this team and replaced him with someone like Al Jefferson, who is having a quality year in Utah. They would be a lottery team. Even Charlotte could beat them by 16…well, actually… 

Yes, Dwight has dragged this albatross of a team to the NBA Finals before, in 2009. But even Superman can’t carry that weight—not with this roster of aging role players and inconsistent outside shooters.

Aside from their situations and teammates, there’s also a fundamental difference between Rose and Dwight that gives Rose the edge.

No team can approach defending the Bulls with the mentality of, “Just let D-Rose get his, and we’ll shut down everyone else.” But as the Hawks proved in last year’s playoffs, that’s the exact formula for success against the Magic. Sure, that distinction is thanks to the fundamental difference between a center and a point guard, but it also reveals the disparity in mentality between these two players.

Rose is someone who lives and breathes this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if the man wakes up every morning and eats little basketball cereal out of a basketball bowl (basketbowl, if you will). Rose could probably go scoreless in a game and still be satisfied, as long as he contributed to his team securing the win.

But Dwight doesn’t have that gene. Maybe his giant, dopey grin and his goofball persona off the court has fueled that perception of him. But nonetheless, Dwight has never seemed like the player who can’t sleep all night because he’s reliving that final shot, contemplating what he could have done differently. Dwight doesn’t want to dominate you because he compulsively has to win; he wants to because it’s cool.

That pathological drive to win a ring is why guys like Rose play this game. The entire world responded with unprecedented vitriol and bile when LeBron James came down to South Beach with the purpose of winning multiple titles and playing with friends. What would the world say if Dwight takes the money and wastes that same opportunity to double down on rings?

That apparent detachment is what makes me wonder about Dwight. Derrick Rose tells the media about his plans for vengeance against the Pacers during a regular-season game because they celebrated beating the Bulls earlier that season (and rightfully so, seeing as the Bulls are clearly the better team).

But, those small inspirations, those slights that are inconsequential to most are larger than life motivators for guys like Rose. It’s what greats like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did and still do.

And I’ve never seen that in Dwight Howard.

Essentially, everyone and their brother have an opinion on where Dwight could end up this summer (that is if Herr Commissioner allows the transaction).  

But we can sum up this argument with a cliché, which everyone hates. Clichés exist for a reason, right?

And that cliché is that a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. I’ll take the sure thing in Derrick Rose and the Bulls rather than the speculation surrounding Dwight Howard.