Magic Trade Rumors: New Dwight Howard Trade Would Be Much Better for Orlando
Now that is better.
Just a day after it was reported that the Orlando Magic were considering sending Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and a pile of garbage—and weren't even getting rid of Hedo Turkoglu's massive contract—Rob Hennigan has responded with a potentially brilliant trade.
The news comes from HOOPSWORLD's Eric Pincus:
"HOOPSWORLD has learned that there have been preliminary discussions between the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets that would involve sending Andrew Bynum to the Rockets, Howard to the Lakers and a number of first-round picks, prospects and significant cap relief to the Magic.
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Now let me reiterate. That. Is. Better.
The details are obviously still unknown, but what the Magic can potentially get from the Rockets is light years better than what they were about to get from the Nets and Cavaliers. And, almost most importantly, they would send Howard to the Western Conference while also keeping Bynum there.
The real question on what the Magic should do with Howard comes down to one question that must be answered: What direction does Orlando want to go?
Well, ESPN's Chad Ford sums up the answer brilliantly:
"If Magic want best player? Lakers best partner. Best package of players? Hawks. Want to blow it up? Rockets. None of the above? Nets
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) July 10, 2012"
The Lakers could obviously give the Magic the best player in Andrew Bynum, and it will likely upset fans that Pincus' details involve the big man going to Houston instead of Orlando.
To that, I would say, is he worth it?
Bynum is clearly much better than Lopez and is much more deserving of a max contract, but remember, up until this season, the Lakers center had injury problems.
Do you really want to give a max contract to a 7'0", 285-pound big man with knee problems when he becomes a free agent next summer? And even that is assuming Bynum will want to re-sign with the Magic (yay, they would get to go through this whole ordeal again).
Bynum is incredibly talented, yes, but the possibility of the big man just turning into a one-year rental is too high.
Back to Ford's tweet. The Hawks, who could definitely provide the best package with something like Al Horford and Jeff Teague, haven't really been involved in rumors, so, for now, I'll skip them.
That leaves the Rockets—unless, of course, Rob Hennigan is ready to go back to explore the worst trade in history with the Nets—which in turn, means blowing the whole thing up.
Honestly, though, if he is willing to blow things up and start over, there really isn't a better place to start than by making a trade with the Rockets.
Just take a look at the current intriguing young players on Houston's roster:
Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb, Donatas Motiejunas, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons, Patrick Patterson and Royce White.
From a speculative standpoint, if the Magic could land a couple of those prospects, potentially scoring-machine Kevin Martin, multiple picks and free up cap space, they would be ready to contend again in two-to-three years.
Rebuilds don't get much better or faster than that.
The potential trade with Brooklyn had me screaming "worst trade ever," but this newly proposed deal is having the absolute opposite effect. If I were Rob Hennigan, I wouldn't let this one slip through my fingers.
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