Does Dwight Howard fit in Houston?(or Atlanta & Dallas)

[HawkItus]

Thursday, April 4, 2013
Does Dwight Howard fit in Houston?

By Chris Broussard
ESPN Insider

With Jeremy Lin and the Rockets, Dwight Howard could find more room to operate.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that Dwight Howard should re-sign a long-term contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. I believe it would be good for his suffering image, a sign that he's decided to take responsibility for winning rather than blaming his coaches and teammates. And of course, who in the world leaves the Lakers?

That said, I wouldn't blame Howard for exiting after one year in SoCal. After all, playoffs or not, this season has been a disaster. If either Jerry -- Buss or West -- was still running the Lakers, Howard staying would be a no-brainer. But with Jim Buss (Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson?) in charge, there's no guarantee the Lakers' incomparable history of reloading with Usain Bolt-like quickness will continue.

Plus, there are some pretty attractive options elsewhere. Here are the pros and cons of his three main suitors outside of L.A.:

Why the Houston Rockets?

Pros: Some would argue that, strictly from a basketball standpoint, the Rockets are Howard's best option. You've got in place a second star in James Harden who averages 26 points on fewer than 17 shots a game. That would leave plenty of offensive action for Howard. To that end, Harden has already proved his ability to play with not only one superstar but two. During his time in Oklahoma City, he showed he's amenable to not only being a second option but even the third.

Besides Harden, under-the-radar small forward Chandler Parsons would also be a nice complement to Howard. Parsons' 38 percent shooting from 3-point range would spread the floor for Howard. And while he isn't star-caliber, you could do worse than Jeremy Lin at point guard. Insert Howard and the Rockets become instant Western Conference contenders, in my opinion. They would have a lot of the same qualities as Howard's Orlando Magic team that took out LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers to reach the Finals in 2009.

NBA Free Agency: Early Look

Monday, April 1: Amin Elhassan
Top 30 free agents by AAV

Tuesday, April 2: Larry Coon Best/worst salary-cap situations

Wednesday, April 3: Brad Doolittle
Decisions affecting free-agent class of 2014

Thursday, April 4: Chris Broussard Pros/cons for Dwight Howard in L.A., Atlanta and Dallas

Friday, April 5: Amin Elhassan
Five perfect FA fits by scheme and personnel

Harden has all the playmaking skills of Hedo Turkoglu, and Parsons can stretch the floor like Rashard Lewis. Plus, in Harden, the Rockets would have something the Magic did not: a legitimate second superstar. And with Howard, Houston would be free to trade double-double center Omer Asik, who would bring back a nice haul in a trade. Off the court, Houston not only meets the big-market specifications Howard has, but with its connection to Lin and Yao Ming, Howard's already-high popularity in China would only improve.

Cons: It's been widely stated that Houston will be able to offer Howard a max contract, but according to salary-cap guru Larry Coon, that is not the case. Even by releasing their seven players with non-guaranteed contracts for next season, the Rockets can't max out Howard.

While he will be eligible to make $20,513,178 next season, the most Houston will be able to offer him is between $16.7-18.2 million, according to Coon. When coupled with the fact that the Rockets can only offer Howard a four-year deal versus the Lakers' five-year deal, that means Howard would have to leave a significant amount of money on the table to leave L.A. for Houston.

Why the Atlanta Hawks?

Pros: As good as things could be, basketball-wise, for Howard in Houston, they could be just as good in Atlanta. Unlike Houston and Dallas, the Hawks will be able to offer Howard a full max contract (for four years, of course; not five).

Howard and Horford would make an imposing frontcourt duo.

In Atlanta, he would team with Al Horford to form the best center-power forward combo in the league. Horford, who has made the All-Star Game as a center, would move to his natural position of power forward and his soft touch from the perimeter would mesh nicely with Howard.

While Josh Smith is ready to move on from the Hawks, with Howard in Atlanta, I'm betting Smith would change his mind. The Hawks would not be able to offer him the max, but perhaps Smith would take less to play with his childhood pal Howard. The same would have to be said of improving point guard Jeff Teague. With them, the Hawks could become the second-best team in the Eastern Conference behind Miami. Howard has always given the Heat nightmares, so perhaps the Heat would finally have a legitimate competitor in the East. With Howard, the Hawks would certainly want to find a way to keep Kyle Korver, who would be the much-needed sharpshooter an offense featuring Howard needs.

Cons: Lots of players don't want to play in their hometowns, and indications are Howard feels that way about returning to Atlanta. Though his relationship with his father, Dwight Sr., is not nearly as bad as reported (the two speak regularly and are not estranged from one another), Dwight Jr. has enjoyed being outside the shadow of his parents, who live in Atlanta.

To be honest, a people pleaser like Howard who finds it hard to say no to folks might run into all types of distractions in his hometown. If Chris Paul were to phone Howard and say "Let's team up in Atlanta," Howard would do it. But no matter how good the prospects in Atlanta are, it's probably a long shot that Howard goes home unless Paul is at his side.

Why the Dallas Mavericks?

Pros: Mark Cuban is a free-spending owner who will do what it takes to build a championship team. Even at 34 years old, Dirk Nowitzki is still a good scorer in the league, as evidenced by his 19 PPG average over the past two months. Put Howard in the middle in Dallas and Nowitzki would be even more dangerous.

And there would be no power struggle for "top gun" status in Dallas, as Nowitzki would gladly allow Howard to shine. Rick Carlisle is one of the top coaches in the league, and with Howard manning the paint, he would probably turn the Mavericks into a top-three defense in the NBA.

Cons: Even with Howard and Nowitzki, Dallas probably isn't a contender. Nowitzki will be 35 at the start of next season, and he's only got a short time left at a high level. Howard also would have to leave tons of money on the table to sign with the Mavs, who according to Coon will only be able to offer Howard between $13 and $14.5 million next season. All that being the case, there's little reason for Howard to sign with the Mavs.

[Brotha2ThaNite]

Atl baby!

[Admin]

I knew that I was right about those teams not being able to offer him the max. It's nice to see Coon backing that up! I still highly doubt he ends up in Atlanta as I would be 100 to 1 that he's staying in LA and even if he wanted to come to Atlanta I'm not entirely convinced I want him here.

[AHF]

The basketball issue with Houston is that they have another big man who can't play in the high post offensively and two guards who are at their best when driving to the basket. That is a 4 guys who will be on the floor a lot together who all need access to the paint to be at their best.

Dwight fits a lot better with sweet perimeter shooters and room to operate inside, IMO.

[Jody23]

So apparently we would need Paul to want to play here in order to land Howard. Well, if the Clippers don't perform well in the playoffs, perhaps it becomes a possibility, but I highly doubt it. A team of Paul, Howard and Horford sounds like a great core though.

[benhillboy]

I've seen enough of Dwight this season to know he's an uninspired, non-energetic, poorly-skilled, low IQ player. Besides his imposing physical presence, he brings nothing to the table but locker room issues, awful media quotes, and excuses for injury, All-Time pathetic free throw shooting, and payroll dominance. There are 100's of examples on film of him simply going to sleep in terms of team defense. He's just a glorified bum. Earl Clark and Jordan Hill routinely provide more of a boost to that team than he does.

Edited April 9, 2013 by benhillboy

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

My problem with Houston is that they have Asik who stands to make $14 mil in his final year. Josh fits with them, but Howard doesn't unless they find someone will to take on Asik w/o take anything back. I also believe that Dallas is a similar situation as LA because the star Howard would be playing with is aged and will like retire before his 4 year deal expires. The best case scenario is for Howard to come to Atlanta, but if it's true that he doesn't want to play in his hometown than that point is moot anyway... Unless Paul (who's from NC) is serious about playing here and parts the seas to convince Dwight to follow him to Atlanta. I believe Paul has a great situation in LA, so I'm not sure why he'd want to fly the coup for Atlanta. I'd nickname Chris Paul "The Moses" if he did pull off this miracle...

C - Howard

PF - Horford

SF - Smith/whoever

SG - Jenkins/Korver/whoever

PG - Paul

That is a killer starting lineup and if Teague is as big of a "team player" as he says he is, we'd probably be able to retain him to be our backup PG, with Lou, Korver, Z-Pac, Ivan, Deshawn, and draft picks to round out the bench... Pipe dream though because it sounds like Howard, Paul, and Smith ALL love LA and Korver wants to play for a contender... Damn shame too because it could have been something special here in Atlanta. At least we can rest assured that Danny will target both Howard and Paul in free agency... LD might even have a job in Atlanta if this happens.

[tonegully]

My problem with Houston is that they have Asik who stands to make $14 mil in his final year. Josh fits with them, but Howard doesn't unless they find someone will to take on Asik w/o take anything back. I also believe that Dallas is a similar situation as LA because the star Howard would be playing with is aged and will like retire before his 4 year deal expires. The best case scenario is for Howard to come to Atlanta, but if it's true that he doesn't want to play in his hometown than that point is moot anyway... Unless Paul (who's from NC) is serious about playing here and parts the seas to convince Dwight to follow him to Atlanta. I believe Paul has a great situation in LA, so I'm not sure why he'd want to fly the coup for Atlanta. I'd nickname Chris Paul "The Moses" if he did pull off this miracle...

C - Howard

PF - Horford

SF - Smith/whoever

SG - Jenkins/Korver/whoever

PG - Paul

That is a killer starting lineup and if Teague is as big of a "team player" as he says he is, we'd probably be able to retain him to be our backup PG, with Lou, Korver, Z-Pac, Ivan, Deshawn, and draft picks to round out the bench... Pipe dream though because it sounds like Howard, Paul, and Smith ALL love LA and Korver wants to play for a contender... Damn shame too because it could have been something special here in Atlanta. At least we can rest assured that Danny will target both Howard and Paul in free agency... LD might even have a job in Atlanta if this happens.

I like it.

Keep Teague and get rid of Paul. IMO.

[HawkItus]

My problem with Houston is that they have Asik who stands to make $14 mil in his final year. Josh fits with them, but Howard doesn't unless they find someone will to take on Asik w/o take anything back. I also believe that Dallas is a similar situation as LA because the star Howard would be playing with is aged and will like retire before his 4 year deal expires. The best case scenario is for Howard to come to Atlanta, but if it's true that he doesn't want to play in his hometown than that point is moot anyway... Unless Paul (who's from NC) is serious about playing here and parts the seas to convince Dwight to follow him to Atlanta. I believe Paul has a great situation in LA, so I'm not sure why he'd want to fly the coup for Atlanta. I'd nickname Chris Paul "The Moses" if he did pull off this miracle...

C - Howard

PF - Horford

SF - Smith/whoever

SG - Jenkins/Korver/whoever

PG - Paul

That is a killer starting lineup and if Teague is as big of a "team player" as he says he is, we'd probably be able to retain him to be our backup PG, with Lou, Korver, Z-Pac, Ivan, Deshawn, and draft picks to round out the bench... Pipe dream though because it sounds like Howard, Paul, and Smith ALL love LA and Korver wants to play for a contender... Damn shame too because it could have been something special here in Atlanta. At least we can rest assured that Danny will target both Howard and Paul in free agency... LD might even have a job in Atlanta if this happens.

The simplest solution to me is to take Asik in some form.

Asik

Horf

Scott or FA wing/ draft pick

Lou/Jenkins or FA/Draft

Teague/Lou FA/Draft

[Dragitoff]

My problem with Houston is that they have Asik who stands to make $14 mil in his final year. Josh fits with them, but Howard doesn't unless they find someone will to take on Asik w/o take anything back. I also believe that Dallas is a similar situation as LA because the star Howard would be playing with is aged and will like retire before his 4 year deal expires. The best case scenario is for Howard to come to Atlanta, but if it's true that he doesn't want to play in his hometown than that point is moot anyway... Unless Paul (who's from NC) is serious about playing here and parts the seas to convince Dwight to follow him to Atlanta. I believe Paul has a great situation in LA, so I'm not sure why he'd want to fly the coup for Atlanta. I'd nickname Chris Paul "The Moses" if he did pull off this miracle...

C - Howard

PF - Horford

SF - Smith/whoever

SG - Jenkins/Korver/whoever

PG - Paul

That is a killer starting lineup and if Teague is as big of a "team player" as he says he is, we'd probably be able to retain him to be our backup PG, with Lou, Korver, Z-Pac, Ivan, Deshawn, and draft picks to round out the bench... Pipe dream though because it sounds like Howard, Paul, and Smith ALL love LA and Korver wants to play for a contender... Damn shame too because it could have been something special here in Atlanta. At least we can rest assured that Danny will target both Howard and Paul in free agency... LD might even have a job in Atlanta if this happens.

How do you intend on paying all those guys? Unless Howard, Paul and Smith take huge paycuts, there is not enough room to sign them all. If the cap is somewhere around $60 million, you'd have the following:

Horford $12 million

Howard $17 million

Paul $17 million

Smith $12 million

Jenkins $1.3 million

That would be them all taking major paycuts, us trading all our draft picks and Lou and renouncing everyone just to squeak in under the cap. We'd have a starting 5 that is redonk, but a bench full of non-drafted players and vet. min. guys.....and that's IF you convince those 3 guys to take that big of a paycut.

[Jody23]

How do you intend on paying all those guys? Unless Howard, Paul and Smith take huge paycuts, there is not enough room to sign them all. If the cap is somewhere around $60 million, you'd have the following: Horford $12 millionHoward $17 millionPaul $17 millionSmith $12 millionJenkins $1.3 million That would be them all taking major paycuts, us trading all our draft picks and Lou and renouncing everyone just to squeak in under the cap. We'd have a starting 5 that is redonk, but a bench full of non-drafted players and vet. min. guys.....and that's IF you convince those 3 guys to take that big of a paycut.

That's assuming the Hawks want to re-sign Smith which may not be the case unless he takes a pay cut. It may be a long shot, but if the Clippers don't do well in the playoffs and the Hawks convince him to come here, Dwight very well could follow. At that point, Smith definitely would be headed elsewhere.

[Jody23]

The simplest solution to me is to take Asik in some form. AsikHorfScott or FA wing/ draft pickLou/Jenkins or FA/DraftTeague/Lou FA/Draft

They would have to part with a whole lot more than just Asik in order for the Hawks to help them in free agency.

[HawkItus]

They would have to part with a whole lot more than just Asik in order for the Hawks to help them in free agency.

Asik wouldn't be worth a non-committed Smith?

[Jizzle]

Well if Danny is high on Mike Brown how reports say we wont have to worry about Howard comming here

[Jody23]

Asik wouldn't be worth a non-committed Smith?

What do you mean by "non-committed Smith"? Smith can't be traded by the Hawks anymore unless it's a sign and trade at which point Smith would have to agree to to a deal with the other team. So if Houston wanted the Hawks to help them clear enough room to get Smith via sign and trade and Howard via free agency, yes it would require them parting with alot more than Asik.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

How do you intend on paying all those guys? Unless Howard, Paul and Smith take huge paycuts, there is not enough room to sign them all. If the cap is somewhere around $60 million, you'd have the following:

Horford $12 million

Howard $17 million

Paul $17 million

Smith $12 million

Jenkins $1.3 million

That would be them all taking major paycuts, us trading all our draft picks and Lou and renouncing everyone just to squeak in under the cap. We'd have a starting 5 that is redonk, but a bench full of non-drafted players and vet. min. guys.....and that's IF you convince those 3 guys to take that big of a paycut.

Just posting to the article and it says:

To be honest, a people pleaser like Howard who finds it hard to say no to folks might run into all types of distractions in his hometown. If Chris Paul were to phone Howard and say "Let's team up in Atlanta," Howard would do it. But no matter how good the prospects in Atlanta are, it's probably a long shot that Howard goes home unless Paul is at his side.

...but I do agree that the salary cap is a major player in who we get and what they get paid, although the average team salary for the last ten NBA champions were well over the salary cap at $67 mil. Also, the salary cap back in the 2002-03 season was only $40 mil while the Spurs were at $53 mil. In fact, every NBA champion for the last 10 years was over the cap and paid tax. If you want a championship team, you got to pay for it and if that means going over the cap, so be it. I understand that the new CBA makes it a deterrent to go over the cap, but if we are going to compete with the Heat, Knicks, and Pacers, ASG is going to have to pay up.

Edited April 9, 2013 by PSSSHHHRRR87

[Dragitoff]

Just posting to the article and it says:

...but I do agree that the salary cap is a major player in who we get and what they get paid, although the average team salary for the last ten NBA champions were well over the salary cap at $67 mil. Also, the salary cap back in the 2002-03 season was only $40 mil while the Spurs were at $53 mil. In fact, every NBA champion for the last 10 years was over the cap and paid tax. If you want a championship team, you got to pay for it and if that means going over the cap, so be it. I understand that the new CBA makes it a deterrent to go over the cap, but if we are going to compete with the Heat, Lakers, and Pacers, ASG is going to have to pay up.

You can go over the cap, yes, but you can't sign FA's and go over the cap unless they are your own FA's or you use an exemption, which we have already used on Lou. If I understand cap rules correctly, and I'm definitely not a capologist, you cannot sign Paul, Howard or any other FA and go up to the cap and then go over to re-sign Josh. You'd have to utilize his cap hit, which I think is around $14 million if you don't re-sign him prior to signing those other players.

Most teams that go over the cap, and almost every playoff team does this, does so by retaining their own players or trading for other players either via sign and trade or one for two kind of deal.

[HawkItus]

What do you mean by "non-committed Smith"? Smith can't be traded by the Hawks anymore unless it's a sign and trade at which point Smith would have to agree to to a deal with the other team. So if Houston wanted the Hawks to help them clear enough room to get Smith via sign and trade and Howard via free agency, yes it would require them parting with alot more than Asik.

A lot more? How much more? If Smith won't sign here and Dwight won't sign here, putting them both in the west away from us would be ideal. Getting back Asik eliminates a major need. Sometimes you can't overplay your hand. I would rather walk away with equal return on bind I put in than lose and walk away with nothing.

[JTB]

A lot more? How much more? If Smith won't sign here and Dwight won't sign here, putting them both in the west away from us would be ideal. Getting back Asik eliminates a major need. Sometimes you can't overplay your hand. I would rather walk away with equal return on bind I put in than lose and walk away with nothing.

I get where your coming from but asik ain't worth it and I think most hawk fans can agree that we should spend that money elsewhere. However putting smith in the west is a good idea if we don't retain him.

[Jody23]

A lot more? How much more? If Smith won't sign here and Dwight won't sign here, putting them both in the west away from us would be ideal. Getting back Asik eliminates a major need. Sometimes you can't overplay your hand. I would rather walk away with equal return on bind I put in than lose and walk away with nothing.

Considering Ferry reportedly refused to deal with Houston unless Asik AND Parsons were both in the deal at the deadline, then yeah, it would take more than Asik this time around as well. Ferry won't take on Asik's deal and help Houston for nothing. Edited April 9, 2013 by Jody23