Any Interest?

Overlooked candidates to land the best center in the world.

by Leo Sepkowitz | @LeoSepkowitz

Dwight Howard trade rumors have absolutely swallowed up the League for a year now. The Nets have pursued the NBA’s best big man the most seriously and openly, though the Lakers and Rockets, among others, have jumped into the mix recently. It appears we’re getting closer to a resolution that will end this awful situation which has seen reputations tarnished and great basketball minds fired, but it’s still unclear where No. 12 will be playing next season.

While Brooklyn, L.A. and Houston are at the forefront of talks, there are a few teams that, while they likely won’t move on Howard, may be wise to place a phone call to Orlando GM Rob Hennigan. (The fact that I didn’t need to google his name, despite the fact that he was just recently hired, speaks the ridiculousness of the situation.)

Here are three teams that we haven’t heard a peep about in the Howard extravaganza, but would be logical landing spots.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

Why They Haven’t Been Involved In Talks
Simply put, OKC is the best team in the West already. Making a big move that would disrupt the roster is very risky on a bunch of levels. Chemistry can be disrupted, other players may not be happy about it, and if it doesn’t work out, you’ve taken something of an unnecessary risk. Just entering the discussion with Orlando and involving players in trade rumors is enough to upset them, so it’s easy to see why the Thunder have steered clear of the Dwightmare.

Why They Should Get Involved In Talks
The Thunder may be the best team in their conference, but they’re not without competition. The Spurs had them against the wall up two games to none in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers traded for Steve Nash, a move that instantly makes them much better. Plus, it was clear in the NBA Finals that the Thunder just aren’t yet on Miami’s level. That’s not to say they won’t get there if their young core sticks around. That’s where it gets tricky, though.

A year from now, Serge Ibaka and James Harden hit the market as restricted free agents. Considering Eric Gordon, bad knees and all, was able to land a max contract offer last week, Harden is a near-lock for one as well.

If he gets one and OKC matches, that would give them three max guys (Harden, Westbrook and Durant) on their books before the Ibaka situation is resolved. Blocks are tough to come by in the NBA, and Ibaka is the best in the business. If bigs like the one-dimensional Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert, who has yet to average 30 minutes per game in an entire season, are also getting max contracts, Ibaka will certainly get at least close to one. Retaining the four would alone put them into the luxury tax. Granted these are great players, but soon the tax penalty becomes significantly steeper for owners, and they’ll want to avoid it if they can.

That may mean that one of either Harden or Ibaka—most likely the latter–won’t be in Oklahoma City for the ’13-14 season and beyond. When you look at it that way, the swap makes a lot more sense. Howard will also command a max contract a year from now, but squeezing three into the salary cap is a lot easier than squeezing four.

As for the people worried about Howard walking—a legitimate concern—I find it hard to believe that he’d find a better place via free agency than OKC. Their fans are as passionate as any and he’d be playing alongside two of the NBA’s elite players. Yes it’s a risk for the Thunder, but it’s hard to imagine the Westbrook-Durant-Howard trio not winning the title.

Trade Details
To the trade machine! Harden and Ibaka are still playing under their rookie contracts, and will make just north of eight million bucks combined next season. Howard, meanwhile, makes roughly $19.5 million. Oklahoma City would have to kick in Kendrick Perkins to make the money work. Surely Orlando wouldn’t be thrilled about that, but the package they’re receiving here trumps anything else on the table by a long shot.
Proof it works.

DENVER NUGGETS

Why They Haven’t Been Involved In Talks
The Nuggets built a great roster with a lot of young talent following the Carmelo Anthony trade. They have good chemistry and probably don’t want to blow it up. It’s a deep team with a very strong second unit, and has a chance to really improve this year assuming they bring back JaVale McGee.

Why They Should Get Involved In Talks
Everything I just said is true, but Denver isn’t really made to win in the Playoffs. Ty Lawson is a very good point guard and Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler are good to have on the wings, but I don’t think they have enough to get past the best teams in the West, and certainly not enough to take down Miami if they reach the Finals.

The Howard saga is looking like a worse version of what Denver just went through with Melo, but the reality is that they need a star player if they want to get over the hump. Having a fun team that wins a lot of regular-season games is hardly a bad thing, but they’re not real title contenders. Additionally, Denver loves to get out and run, which Howard, an absurd athlete, would have little trouble doing. If they want to run the offense through Dwight, they have enough perimeter shooters to do so. Want to run the pick-and-roll instead? I wish defenses the best of luck in stopping the Lawson-Howard duo.

The Trade Details
This would be a slightly more difficult trade to swing. For starters, this deal would likely be contingent on McGee, a restricted free agent, accepting a sign-and-trade to Orlando. From there, it’s about giving the Magic a package they could live with. Considering it appears the Nets are about to re-sign Brook Lopez, thus taking them out of the discussion, and Andrew Bynum won’t give Orlando a guarantee that he’d sign there, giving them the best deal on the table may be easier than it seems. If Denver was willing to part with Wilson Chandler (who they tried to move for a draft pick a couple of weeks ago) as well as Kenneth Faried as the key pieces along with McGee, a deal may be able to get done.

As incentive, they could add in Corey Brewer or Timofey Mozgov’s expiring contract and take back Chris Duhon, who Orlando has been trying badly to move. If they sent both guys to Orlando, they could take back Jason Richardson’s contract.
Proof it works. (Note that in the trade machine, I used Al Harrington and Jordan Hamilton’s combined roughly eight million bucks to substitute for what McGee would likely get in the sign-and-trade. Even if McGee gets a max deal, the trade will still work.)

ATLANTA HAWKS

Why They Haven’t Been Involved In Talks
Frankly, I’m not really sure. In their defense, Atlanta has a ton of money lined up for next offseason, and may figure that they can lure Atlanta-native Howard to the team without coughing anything up. Additionally, they have a solid young core in Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jeff Teague and newly signed Lou Williams, and may want to see if it can get them anywhere before trying to force a deal for Howard.

Why They Should Get Involved In Talks
With the roster they have now, the Hawks certainly aren’t a bad team. But they’re not great either. If they didn’t get over the hump with Joe Johnson, it’s hard to imagine them doing it without him, which is why a deal for DH makes sense. Looking even closer, if they want to bring in Howard and retain his buddy Josh Smith a year from now, they’ll likely deal Al Horford next offseason anyway. Moving him to Orlando now and guaranteeing Howard is a better option than rolling the dice and hoping Dwight signs there. They have the pieces to get a deal done and enough reasons to keep Howard in Atlanta, which is why the Hawks may be the most logical of all the under-the-radar Howard landing spots.

The Trade Details
This one’s easy. Atlanta could offer up Horford and Teague straight up for Howard. But Orlando may want more. The Magic are looking for cap relief, and the Hawks would be able to give it to them in a big way, as they have a ton of expiring contracts on the roster.

By adding the expiring contracts of recently acquired players Devin Harris ($8.5 million) and Johan Petro ($3.5 million), the Hawks could take Hedo Turkoglu’s big contract ($11.8 million) off of Orlando’s hands. Kicking in Zaza Pachulia’s one-year at $5.2 million would allow them to take back Jason Richardson ($5.8 million). They could swap Anthony Morrow’s one remaining year ($4 million) for Chris Duhon’s two ($3.3 million in the upcoming season). They may even be able to also squeeze in Quentin Richardson ($2.6 million) with some solid maneuvering. All of this would probably spare the Hawks from having to give up too many picks.

It’s unclear if Atlanta would be willing to do the deal if asked to take on all of these bad contracts, but the two teams could likely find a compromise somewhere. ESPN hasn’t updated the Hawks’ roster yet post-Joe Johnson trade, so there’s no proof that this deal works. You’ll just have to take my word for it.