Chicago Bulls: Should They Break the Bank for Dwight Howard?

In the summer of 2004, Shaquille O’Neal demanded to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers. This was a shocking revelation by many who thought he would end his days in purple and gold.

As hard as it was to believe, the fact remained: the most coveted big man in the NBA was going to be traded. It was only a matter of time before a team would figure out a deal that would be good enough for Shaq.

Enter the Miami Heat. For those who don’t remember what the Heat were like before Shaq came in, they were actually quite an exciting team.

The team was just coming off its first season with rookie stud Dwayne Wade. They were the No. 4 seed in the East and made it to the second round of the playoffs. People were very excited in South Beach about the young core of Dwayne Wade, Lamar Odom and Caron Butler.

However, Miami was suddenly put in a unique situation. Should they break up the young core and deal for the top big man in the league?

Pat Riley did just that. In a surprising move Riley dealt Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and Brian Grant to the Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal.

At the time, the deal seemed relatively fair, with the Lakers getting back a veteran big man along with two young studs. Of course, Caron didn’t stick with the Lakers long, but Lamar has remained an integral part of the team for the last seven years.

And what happened to the Heat? They went on to win the title a year later.

So how does this apply to the Bulls? I think that’s pretty obvious.

In the coming year the pressure will be on the Magic to make a deal for Dwight Howard before he leaves the team for nothing. This may be a hard reality to face for the Magic, but when push comes to shove, they’ll make a deal.

As for the Bulls, many people may argue that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I couldn’t agree more, if it were true.

The truth is the Bulls are going to have to contend with a Miami Heat team that will only get better. The Heat eliminated the Bulls with essentially a three-man roster. It is only a matter of time before the team rounds itself out through free agency. The Bulls cannot become complacent with their current roster. Even the Mavs will be looking for ways to improve.

That is why I think the Bulls ought to consider “breaking the bank” for Dwight. There are many ways a deal could go down, but if the Bulls want to truly be the top team in the league, they would be smart to contemplate a deal that sends a few of their more promising youngsters away for Dwight.

That may be a hard pill to swallow for those who love Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, but the truth is Dwight Howard would be worth it.

If a deal could be made, the Bulls might not look like they did in the 90s, but rather look oddly like the Lakers in the early 2000s.

And that only means one thing: a dynasty.