Dwight Howard wants out of Orlando, putting one of the NBA’s most dominant big men on the block at the start of training camp.
Magic general manager Otis Smith confirmed Saturday that Howard has formally requested a trade. A team spokesman said earlier in the day that the team had granted New Jersey, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers permission to talk to Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan, to discuss possible trades.
The All-Star is eligible to opt out of his current contract in July 2012.
And so while the Chris Paul soap opera continues with the trade being re-submitted to the league, the Dwight Howard sweepstakes officially begin.
Teaming up with Deron Williams in New Jersey, I think he could help them to a lower seed in the East. If they can swing a couple of other deals, they might be a solid middle of the pack (or slightly better) team with a shot at the fifth or sixth seed, similar to the Atlanta Hawks in recent years. Immediate success would be modest but they could be a team with potential.
Should he end up being dealt to the Lakers - say along with Turkoglu for Bynum and Walton as recently suggested - then he's obviously got a much better shot at being on a championship contender right away, with or without the Paul trade going through. If the Paul trade does go through then the Lakers are still a little weak in the frontcourt without Gasol and Odom but Howard would be an upgrade on Bynum, so they'd be right there in the discussion.
If he were to go to the Mavericks and they could field a starting five that includes Dirk, Howard, Kidd and Carter with Terry still coming off the bench, then I think they're favourites to repeat. I don't see anyone in the West being able to take them down and they should still be able to hang with a revamped Heat team. I'm guessing they'd be more interested in offers from the Lakers and Nets, though the Mavs could put together a few decent packages.
New Jersey would get a STEAL.
