NBA Trade Rumors: 7 Landing Places for Dwight Howard If He Leaves the Magic
Had you been at the Magic and Bobcats game on April 1st, and had you had completely garbage seats, you might have heard me yelling "Dwight To L.A.!" every time Dwight Howard shot a free throw. Needless to say, I got more than my fair share of dirty looks and death threats.
Will Dwight Howard, with his self-coined nickname Superman, be the next super villain to flee a small market team for the championship rings and bright lights while sacrificing his good-guy reputation (see LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, etc.)? Probably. Orlando really doesn't offer much in the way of bright lights, minus Disney World. And while the Magic fan base is quite a good one for the small city they're in, Los Angeles' fan base, or even New Jersey's fan base, present a far better opportunity for Superman to be super-ticket-selling-man.
Will Dwight demand a trade this off-season? Will he go Carmelo-style and get traded mid-season next year? Or will he be LeBron-like and flee after his contract expires next offseason. He may very well stay in Orlando, but if he doesn't? He will crush the hopes and souls of the Magic and their fans, and take his talents elsewhere.
And why shouldn't he?
He has absolutely no help inside other than undersized Brandon Bass, and his team can only, and I literally mean only, shoot three-pointers. They live and die by the three, and Dwight doesn't get the touches he deserves, nor the support from his teammates.
Los Angeles Clippers
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Maybe the L.A. I was screaming about earlier wasn't actually the Clippers but, thinking about it, picture their lineup with Howard added to it. They would start Eric Bledsoe, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Dwight Howard. Off the bench would be Chris Kaman and Mo Williams, Jamario Moon and Randy Foye. Wow. That team would dunk more than the rest of the league combined, with two slam dunk contest champions and the top two dunkers in the league in Griffin and Howard, not to mention Gordon and Jordan, who have serious hops.
They would be high-flying, superb passers, and great at finishing. They would sell out so many games, enough to slowly come into contention with the Lakers. Griffin may have the most bandwagon fans for a young player in the NBA, and Dwight will bring a disloyal, superstar-chasing fanbase with him as well. The Clippers have the money, as they were nonchalantly courting LeBron James this past offseason.
Why would Howard go from big team in small market to small team in huge market? I don't know, but the prospect, and the potential for it to happen, excites me to no end.
Houston Rockets
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Houston, we have a problem. Or do we?
With the career of the extraordinarily large Yao Ming nearing, if not at an end, they will need some help inside for the future. Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, and Patrick Patterson are all better suited at power forward than at center, with Hayes being a very good backup for years to come if Dwight takes his talents to Houston.
Their coach, Rick Adelman, was released, and it's the perfect team for Dwight to come to. He could be a superstar, be in the weaker Western Conference, and have young talent around him both inside and outside. Kevin Martin is a great second star on the team, and both Scola and Chase Budinger are very solid players. Patterson provides help inside, and a lot of hope and potential for the future.
This team is definitely on the rise, and Mr. Howard would certainly help them on the road to stardom.
New Jersey Nets
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It seemed unfathomable that the Nets were getting any superstars once the Carmelo deal fell through, but Mikhail Prokhorov took the initiative and traded away half of their future for the star point guard Deron Williams. It seemed rash at the time, and Williams did little to improve the Nets alone, but group him with Dwight Howard and a soon-to-be superstar Brook Lopez, and all of a sudden you have an instant contender.
Dwight would flourish in New Jersey/Brooklyn under the bright lights of Atlantic City/Broadway, more than he ever did at Disney. Superman would fit nicely into a very balanced attack as one of two stellar big men, an elite point guard and a decent young core with Anthony Morrow, Kris Humphries, and Jordan Farmar.
Boston Celtics
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As unlikely as this seems, it could work on paper and what a team it would create. The way it would have to happen would be for Dwight to do it LeBron-style and leave as a free agent next summer. At that time, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett would be off the books for the Celtics—if they were to return, it would be for considerably less money, and Pierce would be on his way out.
That would leave the Celtics with a core of Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, Glen Davis, and Dwight Howard. Quite the foursome, and a title contender for years more. That team could certainly compete with the Heat, and why wouldn't Howard want to come to one of the most storied franchises in sports? He would be the next Celtic star, forever loved, and forever practically worshipped by the fans.
I can see it now: The Lean Mean Green Machine.
San Antonio Spurs
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Talk about a mentor. Future HOF'er Tim Duncan would be the perfect guy to train Dwight Howard to develop his fundamental game, with Duncan as one of the most fundamental players ever. If Duncan signs a short contract after this year, and the Spurs can woo Howard over either by trade this summer or by free agency next summer, then Dwight will take the reigns from Duncan as the Spurs' big man.
Manu Ginobli plus Dwight Howard plus DeJuan Blair plus Gary Neal plus Tony Parker is certainly not a bad championship equation. That's a team that can groom young players to take over for Ginobli and Parker, and the end result would be the resurgence of the Spurs dynasty.
Phoenix Suns
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You want to keep Steve Nash happy and in your franchise? How about going out and getting him some help not named Vince "I'm so old and washed up it's ridiculous" Carter. Channing Frye is hardly the center the Suns were looking for, so why not go get Dwight Howard, the best in the game? He would mesh perfectly with the pass first style of Nash, but Nash could help with scoring as well—something the Magic found it hard to do, except from beyond the arc. He would also be reunited with ex-backup center Marcin Gortat and shooter Mikael Pietrus.
Dwight would have a supporting cast, with youthful talent like Aaron Brooks, Robin Lopez, Hakim Warrick, and Josh Childress, all who have chances to have great careers. The only downside to this is Phoenix might even be a smaller market than Orlando, and I have a feeling Dwight doesn't really want that. But weigh your options Mr. Howard—championships or spotlight?
Los Angeles Lakers
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This move could definitely happen, I mean definitely happen, unless the Lakers are unwilling to give up young center Andrew Bynum of course. L.A. is aging, with Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, and Derek Fisher all getting up there in years. They have very little youth, coming in the form of Shannon Brown, Derrick Caracter, Devin Ebanks (who the Lakers are very high on) and the likely-departing Andrew Bynum.
If they bring in Dwight to play with Kobe for five years, then become the man in L.A., it will basically buy them at least three of the next five titles. Who could stop the most dominant player and the most dominant big man in the NBA on the same team? The only possible answer? The Miami Heat, and that's a stretch at best.
Beyond Kobe, he would still have Pau Gasol to help him inside, and Gasol is quite the force. He would also have former teammate and defensive star Matt Barnes, as well as the young and explosive Shannon Brown. A deal of Bynum and Joe Smith for Dwight Howard is very doable. And hey, they were willing to do it for Carmelo Anthony, who isn't as good as Dwight and is less needed in L.A.
