I don’t think the warriors would be doing this without some assurances, I think Dwight had to tell them he would go there if they made room.
There is no way he said anything that definitive. Just like the Rockets, they’re clearing room just in case they might possibly get him.
That could be the case, but:
G-State’s got a lot of bad contracts on their roster, and unloading them is a good idea with or without Howard. If that means losing Thompson or Barnes, that stinks, but that’s why you don’t give guys like Andris Biedrins six-year, $54 million contracts.
In any case, I like Golden State and their 3-raining, athletic team too much to wish Howard on them. He developed delusions of being a good post-up player in L.A., and disdain for the spread pick-and-roll in which he was highly effective in Orlando. The combination of head case, bad back, and long, expensive deal could sink a fun, exciting team in the making.
Right. For a historical parallel, in 2010 the Knicks made a series of moves (trading young guys for Tracy McGrady’s expiring deal, mainly) to clear space to try and land LeBron James. LeBron went elsewhere, so four days later the Knicks used the cap space on Amare Stoudemire’s corpse as a consolation prize.
ETA: Very glad that six-year deals are no longer possible in the NBA, and that even five-year deals are harder to pull off. Makes the league better.
Right, they don’t have much room to build on last season right now because they still have Jefferson and Biedrins for another year. (Entry on NBA.com that has amused me for three or four days now: “Report: Biedrins won’t opt out.” I was really in suspense over that one.) The Warriors really fucked up the amnesty thing by waiving Charlie Bell instead of Jefferson or Biedrins. People were scratching their heads over that move at the time and now it’s hurting them again.
As the governor of Texas might say, “Oops.”
Also, I don’t envy them having to figure out what they want to do with Bogut. He’s a top-10 center when healthy, but makes $14.2 million next year and has had all sorts of injury issues. But, they aren’t so much the chronic type, like Bynum’s knees, he has the fluke arm/wrist injury as well. It’s a tough call, he’d help them immensely if he can stay on the court.
An underrated part of Mike D’Antoni’s anti-legacy is reuniting with Amare in New York to hobble the Knicks.
The Warriors will send Jefferson and Biedrins to the Jazz and will sign Iguodala to a four-year $48 million contract.
I love these moves for Golden State. Adding Iguodala and clearing this dead weight makes them much better irrespective of whether they can get Howard or not, and even though that probably won’t happen, it still could. The full trade is Jefferson, Biedrins, Rush, and draft picks (including first rounders in 2014 and 2017) for Kevin Murphy.
USA Today is reporting that Howard has picked the Rockets , although his agent says no decision has been made. I’m not sure if that’s intended as a straight signing or a sign-and-trade (Asik and Lin have been mentioned as possible trade pieces). I was going to say that if he’s smart and really determined to win he’ll just sign with them, but instead I’ll say I have no idea if it’s intended as a straight signing or a sign-and-trade.
Well look at that, I guess we can officially call Orlando the winners of the Howard trade.
That’s a home run for the Dubs. They’re too talented as it stands for those picks to be all that valuable, Iguodala’s kitchen-sink game should slot in nicely as a sixth man or small-ball 3. With Iguodala defending the other team’s best perimeter threat and a healthy Bogut protecting the rim, they should have a decent-to-good defense to go with their scorching offense.
And yet, a lot can go wrong: Curry has his ankle issues, Bogut has his everything issues, and Iguodala didn’t mesh all that well with the Nuggets.
Jazzed to see another team go all-in. Should be a great, if top-heavy, season in '13-14.
Ha, good point. I doubt he’ll (or his agent) will leave a cent on the table if they don’t have to, so a sign-and-trade is likely. Plus, it’s the Lakers, they always fall ass-backwards into being competitive; Asik is a nice young player to anchor a frontcourt with Pau, and while Lin has some serious flaws, he can run a slash-and-kick.
And the JJ Redick trade.
That’d be pretty rare, but it does look that way. I suppose it depends a little on what deals L.A. and Denver make. It’s going to be interesting to see what Houston does next. They’ve already traded Royce White to Philly. They’re getting calls or taking calls about Omer Asik, and I might not be so quick to trade him, and there’s the question of what they do with Jeremy Lin. Howard supposedly pressed them to go after Josh Smith, and as a third option - if he’s dissuaded from shooting threes by some kind of Ludovico Technique - that could work well if it doesn’t cost them too much. Now that Howard is off the market some of the lesser available big men will start settling down. With the contracts Utah just took on they probably have to let Paul Millsap go.
Of course there are still questions about Howard’s health and productivity. This is the best move for him because he’s going to a team that should be a contender, but it’s possible it won’t be the right move for the Rockets.
Such a shame Royce White hasn’t worked out. He gave my Wildcats everything they could handle in the NCAA tournament, he is a beast.
Brian Windhorst is reporting that the Hawks and Rockets are working on a sign-and-trade for Josh Smith. No terms known as of yet.
With J-Smoove, the Rockets could play him at the 3 instead of the 4, leaving Chandler Parsons at the 4. I always thought Smith and Al Horford were out of position, Smith’s a natural 3 and Horford a 4. If the Hawks agree, they could get Asik to play center and move Horford to the 5. Not sure they’d be interested in Lin, they already have a penetrating PG, except theirs can shoot.
Since Houston’s offense is built on running and shooting 3’s, they might spend the summer just working on Smith’s three point shot, try and get it from 30% to 35%+.
I think that was always the plan, transition from Jefferson and Millsap to Kanter and Favors, use the cap space to land guards.
Yeah, this could easily turn into Amare 2.0. You’d think that’d knock down Howard’s price, but it probably won’t. I’ll believe he might be serious if he takes the free-agent offer instead of a sign and trade that would strip Houston of players, picks, and cap space. “The Decision” wasn’t LeBron’s finest hour, but it led to his taking a pay cut to assemble a championship team. Does Howard have that in him? I highly doubt it.
Now I’m hearing reports and getting tweets that Howard is now having 2nd thoughts to leaving $30mil on the table and is “50/50” in regards to whether he is signing with Houston or staying in Los Angeles.
IMHO, the guy isn’t worth rookie minimum, but that’s just me. What sort of teammate is he?
ETA: Well, he’s worth more than rookie minimum, but he sure as hell isn’t worth $130mil. He should be the 2nd best player on his team - in that scenario, DH is probably going to win a ring or two. But as the #1 guy? Getouttahere!
Make up your fucking mind already!!!
“We have been informed of Dwight’s decision to not return to the Lakers. Naturally we’re disappointed. However, we will now move forward in a different direction with the future of the franchise and, as always, will do our best to build the best team possible, one our great lakers fans will be proud to support. To Dwight, we thank him for his time and consideration, and for his efforts with us last season. We wish him the best of luck on the remainder of his NBA career.”
The tops of both conferences are going to be very good next year. Even with Howard and Smith the Rockets aren’t guaranteed a home court playoff series.
Alright, DH just tweeted about 13 minutes ago:
“I’ve decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets. I feel its the best place for me and I am excited about joining the Rockets and I’m looking forward to a great season. I want to thank the fans in Los Angeles and wish them the best.”"