Dwight Howard to demand trade to the Nets (Broussard)

[T0mShane]

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7334410/dwight-howard-ask-orlando-magic-trade-new-jersey-nets-sources-say

By Chris Broussard

Dwight Howard is preparing to ask the Orlando Magic to trade him to the New Jersey Nets, according to sources close to the situation.

Howard's representatives have told the Nets that they are his preferred destination.

Howard has yet to tell the Magic he will not re-sign with them after this season, but the sources said he will within the next few days, perhaps as early as Friday. There is also a chance that Howard will not attend the opening of training camp Friday, according to a source.

As ESPN.com reported last week, the Nets are ready to offer the Magic a package built around center Brook Lopez and two first-round draft picks, New Jersey's own and one the Nets acquired from Houston in a previous trade, according to sources.

New Jersey is also willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu and the three years, $34 million remaining on his deal.

The appeal of the Nets for Howard is the chance to play with All-Star point guard Deron Williams and the Nets' move into a new arena in Brooklyn for the start of the 2012-13 season.

Williams and Howard spoke several times about teaming up during the lockout.

If Howard is indeed committed to joining the Nets, he can all but force the Magic to make the trade by declaring his intentions not to sign a long-term contract with any other team, thereby assuring that those clubs make low-ball offers to Orlando.

Howard's decision to go to the Nets would put a monkey wrench in the Los Angeles Lakers' plan to team Howard with Kobe Bryant by trading Andrew Bynum for the Magic center.

The Nets are continuing to pursue free agent center Nene in case their plan to acquire Howard falls through.

[T0mShane]

Personally, I think trading Lopez straight up for Turkoglu is an absolute fleecing. Getting Howard along with him? OMG. Would also guarantee that DWill signs his extension, so it's a 2 for 1.

Rubles talk, bullsh*t walks, baby.

[SenorGato]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase happen so I can fall in love with the NBA again.

[T0mShane]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase happen so I can fall in love with the NBA again.

Seriously. A good team in Brooklyn? Sign me up.

[rillo]

Wow, this would be huge for the nets and Brooklyn, now they have to keep williams.

[T0mShane]

Broussard on 1050 just said Howard-to-Nets is "very close."

[CrazyCarl40]

Until the NBA revokes it. What a joke of a professional sports organization. There is a reason no one missed the NBA and why the response of it coming back is tepid at best.

[hawksown14]

Broussard: Howard Deal "Very Close"

In an interview on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike Friday morning, Chris Broussard said the Nets and Magic are already working on a trade that would send Dwight Howard to the Nets and that a deal is "very close to happening".

Broussard who broke news of Howard's intentions, said the deal, as he understands it, would be Howard for Brook Lopez and two first round draft choices, presumably the Nets two picks in 2012: their own' first round pick and the Rockets lottery-protected pick obtained in the Terrence Williams trade a year ago. Whether other players would be included remains uncertain.

[RutgersJetFan]

Personally, I think trading Lopez straight up for Turkoglu is an absolute fleecing. Getting Howard along with him? OMG. Would also guarantee that DWill signs his extension, so it's a 2 for 1.

Rubles talk, bullsh*t walks, baby.

Hedo is toast dude. That they're able to unload that contract without having to choose between him and Arenas for their amnesty clause is probably the one awesome thing they're going to get out of this.

[T0mShane]

Hedo is toast dude. That they're able to unload that contract without having to choose between him and Arenas for their amnesty clause is probably the one awesome thing they're going to get out of this.

Oh, hell yeah. I was being cheeky about Turkoglu because I'm so sick of Lopez and his three boards per night. Guy made Blair Rasmussen look like Rick Mahorn.

[RutgersJetFan]

Guy made Blair Rasmussen look like Rick Mahorn.

Legit lol'd at this one.

[Larz]

that clown sideshow bob or whatever claimed it was a done deal.....yesterday at noon, and when pressed on the details said "a player and a bunch of picks"

wtf ?

[T0mShane]

that clown sideshow bob or whatever claimed it was a done deal.....yesterday at noon, and when pressed on the details said "a player and a bunch of picks"

wtf ?

I think it all depends on Chris Paul going to the Lakers. If they get that deal done (exhausting their assets), then Dwight-to-the-Nets happens right behind it. If Paul-to-Lakers collapses, Howard goes to LA for the package they were going to give up for Paul, unless Orlando demands Bynum instead of Gasol.

[InstantClassic]

[T0mShane]

My condolences. It has to suck.

[Aten]

I think it all depends on Chris Paul going to the Lakers. If they get that deal done (exhausting their assets), then Dwight-to-the-Nets happens right behind it. If Paul-to-Lakers collapses, Howard goes to LA for the package they were going to give up for Paul, unless Orlando demands Bynum instead of Gasol.

Orlando demanded Bynum and Gasol. God only knows what they want off Jersey.

[JohnnyHector]

Orlando demanded Bynum and Gasol. God only knows what they want off Jersey.

Lopez, two #1's, 15% of Rocawear's gross sales for the next 5 years, and Beyonce has to perform at the 2013 Otis Smith Kids Foundation benefit.

[Aten]

Lopez, two #1's, 15% of Rocawear's gross sales for the next 5 years, and Beyonce has to perform at the 2013 Otis Smith Kids Foundation benefit.

Does Bibby actually do anything besides spot up now or does this mean Shawne's gone to Jersey for sure?

[jason423]

Orlando demanded Bynum and Gasol. God only knows what they want off Jersey.

It may be as much as not wanting to deal with LA as anything else. I think that team still smarts from Shaq leaving Orlando and going to LA.

[T0mShane]

tOt may be as much as not wanting to deal with LA as anything else. I think that team still smarts from Shaq leaving Orlando and going to LA.

God, hopefully. CP3-to-Lakers is dead and the Lakers are now shipping Odom to Dallas for nothing, opening up the possibility of the Bynum+Gasol for Howard deal. I think Howard would rather go to LA if given his choice, so it comes down to whether or not 1. Orlando thinks Bynum's flakiness/injury concerns are more troubling than Lopez's softness/gutlessness and 2. Whether or not Billy King can rip two more teams into his deal to help him beat LA's offer.

IMO, looks bleak for the Nets.

[JohnnyHector]

Does Bibby actually do anything besides spot up now or does this mean Shawne's gone to Jersey for sure?

No, that's unfortunately all Bibby is at this point. My hope is that he's just taking Mason, Jr.'s roster spot/role and Purple Drank is giving them some time to sort out some other possible roster moves before making a decision. I think his ability to stretch the floor at the 3/4 when spelling Melo/Stat while playing competent D would be sorely missed, especially in a highly-condensed season.

[jason423]

God, hopefully. CP3-to-Lakers is dead and the Lakers are now shipping Odom to Dallas for nothing, opening up the possibility of the Bynum+Gasol for Howard deal. I think Howard would rather go to LA if given his choice, so it comes down to whether or not 1. Orlando thinks Bynum's flakiness/injury concerns are more troubling than Lopez's softness/gutlessness and 2. Whether or not Billy King can rip two more teams into his deal to help him beat LA's offer.

IMO, looks bleak for the Nets.

I guess it depends on what Orlando is looking for in a player. I cant imagine Gasol fitting in there. Hes 30 some years old and has 3 big money years left on his contract. If they take on he and Bynum as a replacement for Howard and Hedo that doesnt really give the Magic salary relief this season and possibly next year too depending on what they decide to do with Bynum. Bynum fits in better as a replacement for Howard in that hes a good rebounder, especially offensively, and blocks shots. But he only plays 50 games a year, which might not be an issue this season. Lopez is a better offensive player and plays 82 games, but soft around the basket and is only going to get 6 or 7 boards a game. Bynum will get dunk putbacks like Howard. Lopez is going to take little jumpers or try to use footwork to score. So I think he would require the Magic to change their approach big time. But he only makes 3 million this year and 4 million the next which puts the Magic into low salary territory which makes alot of sense.

My guess is it could come down to draft choices. The Nets are reportedly offering 2 firsts, but one is lottery protected which means it could be garbage or could turn into gold down the line since normally that protection vanishes over time. I think they will weigh what those picks could be plus the guaranteed salary relief against what they could get in return for Gasol if a contender needs a big guy and perhaps if there is any value in trading Bynum next year. I guess they could also consider if Lopez has any chance of being a max type player (doubtful) which could lead to a sign and trade when he is eligible for free agency.

[T0mShane]

I guess it depends on what Orlando is looking for in a player. I cant imagine Gasol fitting in there. Hes 30 some years old and has 3 big money years left on his contract. If they take on he and Bynum as a replacement for Howard and Hedo that doesnt really give the Magic salary relief this season and possibly next year too depending on what they decide to do with Bynum. Bynum fits in better as a replacement for Howard in that hes a good rebounder, especially offensively, and blocks shots. But he only plays 50 games a year, which might not be an issue this season. Lopez is a better offensive player and plays 82 games, but soft around the basket and is only going to get 6 or 7 boards a game. Bynum will get dunk putbacks like Howard. Lopez is going to take little jumpers or try to use footwork to score. So I think he would require the Magic to change their approach big time. But he only makes 3 million this year and 4 million the next which puts the Magic into low salary territory which makes alot of sense.

My guess is it could come down to draft choices. The Nets are reportedly offering 2 firsts, but one is lottery protected which means it could be garbage or could turn into gold down the line since normally that protection vanishes over time. I think they will weigh what those picks could be plus the guaranteed salary relief against what they could get in return for Gasol if a contender needs a big guy and perhaps if there is any value in trading Bynum next year. I guess they could also consider if Lopez has any chance of being a max type player (doubtful) which could lead to a sign and trade when he is eligible for free agency.

This actually makes me feel better. My thought was that Bynum would be the easier sell to spurned Magic fans, but that might just be because I've watched Lopez not compete under the basket for too many games. Should be interesting.

[JohnnyHector]

My guess is it could come down to draft choices. The Nets are reportedly offering 2 firsts, but one is lottery protected which means it could be garbage or could turn into gold down the line since normally that protection vanishes over time. I think they will weigh what those picks could be plus the guaranteed salary relief against what they could get in return for Gasol if a contender needs a big guy and perhaps if there is any value in trading Bynum next year. I guess they could also consider if Lopez has any chance of being a max type player (doubtful) which could lead to a sign and trade when he is eligible for free agency.

The thing with the picks is that by acquiring Howard and then, conceivably extending Williams, the Nets are an automatic playoff team in the East. There's almost no way Orlando is getting back any lottery picks in this deal, unless it's coming from a 3rd team (ie. the Clipper holding Minnesota's unprotected pick).

That's really the dilemma for NBA teams.... you either want to be a legit title contender or terrible enough to land a top-5 pick (and not trade them for the likes of Eddy Curry).

[jason423]

The thing with the picks is that by acquiring Howard and then, conceivably extending Williams, the Nets are an automatic playoff team in the East. There's almost no way Orlando is getting back any lottery picks in this deal, unless it's coming from a 3rd team (ie. the Clipper holding Minnesota's unprotected pick).

That's really the dilemma for NBA teams.... you either want to be a legit title contender or terrible enough to land a top-5 pick (and not trade them for the likes of Eddy Curry).

Do they have any new rules about trading far in the future picks? I had just assumed they would be hedging their bets that 4 or 5 years from now the team starts to play poorly as players age so those are the picks they want, not picks in next years draft. The NBA is a weird sport because 1 player makes such a difference in the outcome of the game and being one of these perennial 0.500 teams is actually a bad thing. As you said you need to be disaster terrible if you want a real chance to improve. Im actually surprised teams and agents have never gotten creative with contracts and trades like they are in the NFL. Maybe they have rules against it, but I would think you would have conditions on trades in the reverse direction (ie the pick reverts to the old team until it becomes a lottery pick) or ways to use the Bird clauses to your advantage (i.e. Knicks sign Paul for a MLE deal with a void clause after year 1 if he meets certain incentives with the secondary contract built right in that allows the Knicks to exceed the cap to resign their own free agent) .

[Aten]

Im actually surprised teams and agents have never gotten creative with contracts and trades like they are in the NFL. Maybe they have rules against it

There have to be rules against it. I mean, NBA teams are so goddamned stupid they can't even be allowed to trade their first-round pick in consecutive years, I'm sure they're protected against finding more creative ways to screw up.

[JohnnyHector]

Do they have any new rules about trading far in the future picks?

I'm pretty sure the same rules still apply - can't trade consecutive #1's and can only trade picks 5 years (IIRC) out...

I would think you would have conditions on trades in the reverse direction (ie the pick reverts to the old team until it becomes a lottery pick) or ways to use the Bird clauses to your advantage

I can't recall specific instances off the top of my head, but I remember this being done where the traded pick is initially lotto protected with the level of protection gradually decreasing, where it ends up being only top-2 or top-3 protected in year 5. Thankfully for the Knicks, Isiah didn't believe in complicating things with such provisions and instead doled out lottery picks like Halloween candy.

(i.e. Knicks sign Paul for a MLE deal with a void clause after year 1 if he meets certain incentives with the secondary contract built right in that allows the Knicks to exceed the cap to resign their own free agent)

This wouldn't work, as a player's clock (3 yrs) for Bird Rights resets as soon as he switches teams via free agency. This is why there were rumors that Paul would force a trade to the Knicks without signing an extension and have a handshake agreement to re-up as a UFA. Since he would have been traded to the Knicks in this scenario, they would also have acquired his Bird Rights and could thus give him an extra year with bigger annual raises.

The one interesting thing that the new CBA allows is to reduce the annual cap value of an existing contract by extending the number of years on the deal while adding little to no new money.

[jason423]

I'm pretty sure the same rules still apply - can't trade consecutive #1's and can only trade picks 5 years (IIRC) out...

I can't recall specific instances off the top of my head, but I remember this being done where the traded pick is initially lotto protected with the level of protection gradually decreasing, where it ends up being only top-2 or top-3 protected in year 5. Thankfully for the Knicks, Isiah didn't believe in complicating things with such provisions and instead doled out lottery picks like Halloween candy.

This wouldn't work, as a player's clock (3 yrs) for Bird Rights resets as soon as he switches teams via free agency. This is why there were rumors that Paul would force a trade to the Knicks without signing an extension and have a handshake agreement to re-up as a UFA. Since he would have been traded to the Knicks in this scenario, they would also have acquired his Bird Rights and could thus give him an extra year with bigger annual raises.

The one interesting thing that the new CBA allows is to reduce the annual cap value of an existing contract by extending the number of years on the deal while adding little to no new money.

Good info. Im not really up on the NBA rules too much. I just no there is like no creativity at all except with having to do like 4 and 5 team trades to work within the cap. The Nets had a bunch of those types of picks from the Kenyon Martin S&T I believe. The way they worked was the first year was lottery protected. The second year was something like top 10 protected. Then top 2. Then anything goes. They ended up shipping those to Toronto for VC.

[JohnnyHector]

They ended up shipping those to Toronto for VC.

And they ended up being the #16 pick in 2005 (Joey Graham) and the #20 pick in 2006 (Renaldo Balkman - pick was shipped to Knicks as part of the brilliant Jalen Rose deal).

I'm sure someone's done the analysis, but I wonder what the "success" rate is for non-lottery #1's since they blocked kids jumping straight from High School using PER, win shares, or even something as simple as minutes played (though all have inherent flaws).

[Aten]

And they ended up being the #16 pick in 2005 (Joey Graham) and the #20 pick in 2006 (Renaldo Balkman - pick was shipped to Knicks as part of the brilliant Jalen Rose deal).

I'm sure someone's done the analysis, but I wonder what the "success" rate is for non-lottery #1's since they blocked kids jumping straight from High School using PER, win shares, or even something as simple as minutes played (though all have inherent flaws).

This one is kinda ghetto but, yeah, it basically says what you expect.

http://82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm

[JohnnyHector]

This one is kinda ghetto but, yeah, it basically says what you expect. http://82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm

Thanks... I remember reading his best/worst drafting teams and being only mildly surprised that the Knicks were the only team to have not drafted a "star" player over during that period.

All the more reason why the Clippers have by far and away the best chips to trade for Paul by owning that unprotected Minnesota selection (in addition to young talent).

[Aten]

All the more reason why the Clippers have by far and away the best chips to trade for Paul by owning that unprotected Minnesota selection (in addition to young talent).

Yeah, but how's this going to work exactly? The Clippers are already offering Gordon and the pick and New Orleans apparently wants Bledsoe too. Paul isn't going to re-up or even agree not to opt out if all they're left with is Griffin and Jordan.

[JohnnyHector]

Yeah, but how's this going to work exactly? The Clippers are already offering Gordon and the pick and New Orleans apparently wants Bledsoe too. Paul isn't going to re-up or even agree not to opt out if all they're left with is Griffin and Jordan.

Word is that the package is Bledsoe, Kaman, Al-Aminou, and a New Orleans' choice between Gordon or the Minny #1, but not both. I think both sides probably benefit from the pick being included instead of Gordon - Clippers in the short-term and NO over the long-haul.

[Aten]

No, that's unfortunately all Bibby is at this point. My hope is that he's just taking Mason, Jr.'s roster spot/role and Purple Drank is giving them some time to sort out some other possible roster moves before making a decision. I think his ability to stretch the floor at the 3/4 when spelling Melo/Stat while playing competent D would be sorely missed, especially in a highly-condensed season.

We need to get Williams signed right now. I think Shumpert is going to see a lot of playing time because he can guard the position which keeps Fields on the floor. Jeffries can't be the first big up too. The offense will just die.

[JohnnyHector]

We need to get Williams signed right now. I think Shumpert is going to see a lot of playing time because he can guard the position which keeps Fields on the floor. Jeffries can't be the first big up too. The offense will just die.

At this point, I'm not sure what other options there are at PG, save for Baron getting amnestied. If they're looking at someone on a vet minimum deal, then it doesn't make any sense to wait on dipping into the mini-MLE to sign Williams. Throw in a case of sizzurp and get it done already.