Dwight Howard to the Lakers in a four-team trade

4 unrestricted picks was what was reported.

 

Yep. This according to Yahoo!: Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks and four first round draft picks.

What in the hell were the Magic thinking?

 

I'm guessing they were thinking that rather than be locked into long deals that meant 37-45 ad infinitum, they are going to suck and suck hard so they can get another franchise player in the draft (until he decides he doesn't want to be there anymore, and the pattern continues, ad infinitum).

I see that Josh McRoberts was thrown into the Magic's pile, too. He's working on becoming his generation's Chucky Brown or Chris Gatling.

 

Good deal all the way around. I would like to see Howard mature more. Iggy should do well. Hope he finds his outside shot. Bynum is an interesting piece to the puzzle. Once again the Sixers are gambling on a center with bad wheels. In the future, the Magic should be OK.

 

Except Lopez' and Humphries' contracts were expiring (the Nets extended the contract of Lopez, who was a restricted free-agent and gave Humphries a two-year deal after his one-year deal expired) and Brooks is on a 2-year, $2m deal. So, even if the Magic had to give Lopez the big deal he got in Brooklyn, they'd still be getting Brooks and Humphries for short time on the cheap and four unprotected picks.

Hell, Afflalo has four years left on his deal.

 

That's the point. Hennigan doesn't want to be sorta good. It's in the team's best interest to be terrible, as they'll be able to augment the young players and draft picks they received for Howard with two or three lottery picks. With New Jersey's trade, Orlando would have had a halfway decent team that, at best, could keep them in a vacuum of mediocrity, limiting the likelihood of top-tier draft picks. It would also create a scenario in which they'd either have to pay Brook Lopez max money or let him walk, which, if they chose the latter, why not eliminate the middle man and expedite the process of sucking really badly for a couple of years in order to stockpile quality youth?

 

I still think the Lakers aren't athletic enough 1-4. Howard makes up for a lot though.

 

Yeah, if you look at the deals that were made for other superstars recently (Paul, Williams, Anthony...) the Magic didn't get shit in return.

 

The Magic got some warm bodies to fill out the roster while they tank, which is probably what they wanted at this point. I wasn't as high on the rumored Brooklyn trade they had earlier this summer - Lopez and Brooks strike me as fringe starters on a playoff team at best, so I'd rather bottom out and go for a high draft pick then be stuck in that 30-win range. Plus, you can probably move Affalo for a first round pick or some other asset if you want.

I think this improves the Lakers, but I don't think they're better than Miami or Oklahoma City. Going from Bynum to Howard is a big improvement defensively but probably a downgrade offensively. Nash was the bigger upgrade to me, but I'd like to see how the Lakers play first. If Nash is running the offense in the final two minutes, then they might be better than Maimi or Oklahoma City, but if it's still just Kobe vs. 5, then I don't think they're better than those other teams in close games.

Philly got the best of the deal to me, assuming that they can re-sign Bynum. Generally in the NBA, it's tough to trade guards or wings for big men, but the Sixers managed to do that here. Iguadola is a good player but a bit overrated to me, in that he's not a good enough scorer to be on that elite wing level with Lebron, Wade, etc. I think the Sixers have the depth to replace him easier than finding a big man.

 

Horrible deal for the Magic. If you really want to save space and bottom out, why are you acquiring Afflalo and Harrington, who have four and three years, respectively, left on their deals?

How do you possibly turn down the Nets offer? Lopez, Humphries (on a 1-year deal), Brooks, and FOUR unprotected 1st-rounders? Lopez gives you a legit big, Humphries is on an expiring, Brooks has nice potential as a scorer and backcourt cornerstone and FOUR 1st-rounders?

What is Hennigan thinking? He clearly chose the worst deal of the two, and that's because it has yet to be reported what Houston - who had THE most space available, as well as the best young talent and most lucrative draft picks - offered.

Great pull by the Lakers, obviously. Outstanding for Denver (cleared gobs of cap space and Iguodala fits perfectly). Stellar for Philly. Interestingly enough, the one team that failed and lost big was the one that had the most prominent chip.

 

So Kobe starts his career drafted by the Hornets/Bobcats/Tarpack/NBAhell or whatever team was in Charlotte in the mid 1990s and I guess at some point strikes a deal with Satan that includes...

He can play for the marquee organization in basketball...
He can play with Shaq for the start of career...
He can be coached by Phil Jackson...
He can then play with an Gasol, Odom and Bynum...
Then he finishes out his career with Nash and Howard...
He plays for multiple gold medal teams...
He gets away with the Colorado incident...
He can be a prick and get away with it...

Seriously, what the hell happens to him if the Hornets did not love the Serbian flopper?