Is Dwight Howard headed to New Jersey?

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Via Chris Broussard of ESPN.com:

Dwight Howard will ask the Orlando Magic to trade him to the New Jersey Nets, and a deal could go down as soon as Friday, sources close to the situation said.

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

When Howard speaks to the Magic, he will tell them that he will not re-sign with the team after this season, sources said. 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.

Thursday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “It appears that the NBA lockout has taken a toll on the Orlando Magic. The team has laid off 20 full-time staff members and determined that up to 12 other open positions will be eliminated, three league sources told the Orlando Sentinel. The moves impact most of the organization’s departments but not the basketball operations department. They were announced to the team’s remaining full-time staff of about 170 people on Tuesday. A Magic spokesman would not comment. A team policy prohibits employees from commenting about staffing matters. On Jan. 1, the Magic put a hiring freeze into effect because team officials anticipated that a labor dispute between league owners and players could lead to the cancellation of games. As a result of the hiring freeze, 12 positions that were open or became open stayed unfilled.
• Larry Hughes — yes, that Larry Hughes — has been invited to the Orlando Magic’s training camp. No word if any other former members of the Golden State Warriors will be attending as well.
• More from Robbins: “Howard’s long-term status will not be resolved in the next few days. It just won’t. But we may see some major clues as to the team’s long-range strategy. If the team wants to start creating cap space for the free-agent bonanza of the summer of 2012, it can do so by inking Jason Richardson to a free-agent deal and sending him to another team via a sign-and-trade. That would help the Magic create room under the cap if the Magic receive a contract that will expire after the 2011-12 season or an unguaranteed contract or picks.”
• Dwight Howard’s birthday wish list.

The nitty gritty on Dwight Howard’s future

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Via Bill Ingram of HOOPSWORLD:

The new CBA allows veteran players to extend their deal to a maximum of four years, meaning at no time can your extension push you past four guaranteed years. Dwight has two more years on his contract with the Magic, with an option coming this summer. As of today, Dwight can only sign a two-year extension with the Magic, as this season and next would count towards the four allowed. Next summer Dwight (and Chris Paul and Deron Williams) could opt out and sign a new contract for five years. BY waiting until July, Dwight can sign for two more years than he can sign for now.

So there will be no extension for Dwight.

Hence the reason that Deron Williams declared that he was opting out of his contract with the New Jersey Nets. From a financial point of view, it makes sense.

The same logical applies to Dwight Howard.

That said, the league’s best center by far still very much wants to be in Orlando, and he is willing to give them every opportunity to keep him. What that means to Dwight is that he wants the Magic to be contenders, and to that end Orlando has a short list of players they would like to add in an effort to return to contention. Atlanta’s Josh Smith, Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala and Golden State’s Monta Ellis are on that list.

None of this is groundbreaking news. Sure, Howard may want to stay with the Orlando Magic but will he? That’s yet to be determined.

And as for Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, and Monta Ellis, each of them would help the Magic, yes.

Smith is an All-Star caliber talent and although he’s mind-numbingly frustrating to watch on offense, combining his defensive abilities with Howard would make Orlando — already a top five unit on defense — even better on that end of the floor. Plus, it would push Brandon Bass back into a more suitable role coming off the bench. It’d be worth mentioning that the Magic would once again run into playing time issues at power forward (when Rashard Lewis was around) with Smith, Bass, and Ryan Anderson. However, to acquire a player of Smith’s caliber, Orlando would likely have to give up Anderson in a trade, rendering the point moot.

Iguodala is probably the most intriguing of the three players mentioned because even though he remains a fringe All-Star caliber player, at best, he’s an elite perimeter defender (only Tony Allen is better). Give head coach Stan Van Gundy a defensive pairing of Iguodala and Howard, and there’s a good chance that the Magic would have the best defense in the NBA. Iguodala is an inconsistent jumpshooter, doesn’t attack the rim as much as he should (which means he doesn’t get to the free-throw line as much as he should), but he’s an underrated playmaker and Orlando could always use another one of those.

If Iguodala is the most intriguing player, Ellis is the least intriguing player. Oh sure, Ellis can score a lot but he was aided by playing in a fast-paced offense (the Golden State Warriors were fifth in pace last season) and leading the league in minutes played. As John Hollinger pointed out in his player profiles at ESPN Insider, when looking at Ellis’ scoring on a per-minute, pace-adjusted basis, he ranked 17th in scoring rather than eighth if you were looking at points per game. And that’s not even mentioning that Ellis isn’t a very efficient offensive player either. Or that Ellis rarely tries on defense. Or that, to compound the problem defensively, Ellis is an undersized two-guard that can be exploited by the Joe Johnsons of the world. Ellis may seem like an intriguing player but Van Gundy would have his hands full trying to make him fit in well with the Magic. More so than Smith and Iguodala.

The question that should really be asked is whether or not Smith, Iguodala, or Ellis would be enough to help Orlando overtake the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference? Unless the Magic got more than one of them, the answer is likely no. Which would make it that much harder for Orlando to convince Howard to stay.

This isn’t meant to paint a bleak picture for Magic fans.

This is meant to grasp the reality of the situation.

Wednesday’s Magic Word

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Howard knows that the Magic, as assembled, are not legitimate contenders. They don’t have the assets to appease Paul’s or Deron Williams’ team, either. The Magic are trying to romance Dwight with a promise, and a lot more money. Vander Weide told me that Howard can make $30 million in the fifth year of an extension in the new CBA — much more than he can make elsewhere. This will be different than the Shaq debacle of 15 years ago, when a young, naïve franchise was led on by O’Neal and then low-balled him out of the gate. Smith and Martins made it abundantly clear that if Dwight wants out, it’s on Dwight, not the franchise. Back in the day, Shaq spun it the other way. Vander Weide vowed that the DeVos family will not allow Howard to walk without compensation, as Shaq did.”
• From scooping Italian ice at Giants Stadium to becoming the CEO of the Orlando Magic, Alex Martins’ journey has been an interesting one.
• Magic players are getting ready for training camp on Friday.
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Team officials said Vander Weide’s retirement has been planned for months and has nothing to do with Howard’s uncertain long-term future with the team or with a recent late-night phone conversation between Vander Weide and Howard. Vander Weide said he determined that his workload, which included memberships on two key NBA committees, had started to wear on him about a year ago.”
• Deadspin somehow made its way into Vander Weide’s press conference today.
• Chris Paul billboards are all around the city of Orlando.
• What does Vander Weide stepping down mean for the Magic?
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Martins said all of the pieces are in place for the Magic to once again contend for a championship this season, which will begin on Dec. 25 with Orlando at Oklahoma City in the nationally televised opener. Training camp opens on Dec. 9 with the Magic playing two exhibition games against the Miami Heat (Dec. 18 in Miami and Dec. 21 in Orlando). Martins feels that with Howard as the team’s anchor at center that Orlando can be a force in the Eastern Conference once again.”
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post has a must-read breakdown of what took place at Vander Weide’s press conference earlier today.
• Andrew Lynch of Hardwood Paroxysm: “What initially struck me as an awesome introduction to the new season for my favorite team now taunts me and flaunts the transient nature of this season in my face. Every visit to or from Orlando is a similar circumstance, potentially turned upside-down by the mighty hand of Otis Smith. Unless it’s turned right-side up again, 360-style, by the mighty hand of Otis Smith pulling the trigger on a Chris Paul-to-Orlando deal that might or might not be possible because SOURCES!”
• What’s the most interesting game we won’t see in the 2011-2012 regular season? Devin Kharpertian of Nets Are Scorching has an answer: “A two-way tie between Carmelo Anthony avoiding Denver in the “We’re Better Off Without You” game and Dwight Howard avoiding Los Angeles in the “Please, Please, Please Come Play For Us” game (for either Los Angeles team). Force my hand, and the Howard game gets a slight edge, if only because the Denver game can still happen next season.”
• Dwight Howard isn’t on the move for now.
• Orlando appears to be interested in Jamal Crawford.
• Has head coach Stan Van Gundy been questioning Howard’s leadership?
• Steve Aschburner of NBA.com thinks the Magic could be a surprise team in the NBA this season if they manage to keep Howard around: “One obvious answer is Orlando. If the Magic not only hang onto Howard but acquire someone who might convince their MVP candidate to stick around long-term, they continue as an East contender. If not, they’ll be counting the days till they get lottery lucky again.”
• NBA.com scribes try to predict Howard’s future whereabouts.

Tuesday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “On a day Orlando Magic officials pledged publicly they’ll do everything they can to keep Dwight Howard, the team announced that the second-highest person in the team hierarchy — a person who has been in contact with Howard recently — is leaving his post. Team officials announced that Bob Vander Weide, the son-in-law of Magic Owner Rich DeVos, has stepped down from his post as the Magic’s chief executive officer. Alex Martins has been promoted from president to CEO. Vander Weide, Martins and Dan DeVos — one of the owner’s sons and now the team’s new chairman — insisted that Howard’s situation had nothing to do with Vander Weide stepping down. [...] Vander Weide, a member the NBA’s labor-relations and planning committees, said he was waiting for the league’s labor dispute to be resolved before he made his intentions public.”
• In the same article, Bob Vander Weide explains the context of his phone conversation with Dwight Howard: “I can just tell you that, having spoken to Dwight Monday night after playing paddle tennis with a couple of buddies and having a couple of glasses of wine, I was not intoxicated, and we had a conversation. There was no hard feelings. He had called a couple of times, and I wanted to get back to him. The only thing I can say is maybe I should of waited until the next morning having been with buddies and having had a couple of glasses of wine. But it was not aggressive. It was not negative. It was more ‘where we’re going to be this week.’ And we talked candidly.”
• A look back at a 2008 profile on Vander Weide.
• A breakdown of the Magic’s 2011-2012 regular season schedule.
• The Orlando Magic will not be trekking to London this year.
• It appears the only way Chris Paul can land with the Magic is if he forces the hand of general manager Dell Demps.
• More on Orlando’s compressed schedule.
• How do you build a winning team?
• Royce Young of CBSSports.com chimes in on the rumors that the Magic are interested in acquiring Paul or Deron Williams in a trade: “What to make of these rumors? Well, first, they are a desperate attempt by the Magic organization to shift the discussion from the unprofessional conduct of one of their chief decision-makers during a critical time in the franchise’s history. The sooner everyone starts talking about rumors — any rumors — the more quickly everyone forgets that the guy employed to keep the only player worth more than a damn happy was too busy drinking wine and “paddling” to remember the basics of the boss/employee relationship. The bigger the name in the rumor, the better right now. Anything to restore some element of hope following a lockout and prior to the start of the 2011-2012 season.”
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie provides his thoughts on Vander Weide’s resignation.
• Today’s 5-on-5 roundtable discussion on ESPN.com discusses the possibility of a Paul and Howard union forming with the Los Angeles Lakers.
• The mood is awkward in Orlando.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Orlando thinks it has a 50/50 or better chance because Howard is conflicted. He does have roots in Orlando. And he wants to be liked and he saw how Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James took hits for leaving their markets. In his heart I think he wants to stay. But he also wants to win a ring, and he realizes that the Magic are a long way s from that right now.”
• Matt Moore of CBSSports.com reacts to Vander Weide stepping down.
• The waiting game continues with Howard.
• The odds of Paul and Howard being traded to the Lakers — together — is low.
• Important details on the amnesty provision in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement: “[...] the provision will stay alive for the full length of the new collective bargaining agreement. Teams can use it only once, and only for ‘contracts in place at the inception of the CBA,’ according to a summary of the draft agreement.”
• In other words, the Magic can wait to release either Gilbert Arenas or Hedo Turkoglu from their contracts. It can be this season. It can be next season. That being said, a team is not allowed to acquire Arenas or Turkoglu in a trade and amnesty them.
• Magic fans just want Paul on the team as their Christmas present.

Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide resigns

Via David Baumann of Bright House Sports Network:

I can confirm Bob Vander Weide is retiring as Magic CEO, Alex Martins will be promoted.

According to Baumann and other local media outlets, Vander Weide made a late-night phone call to Dwight Howard and may have been intoxicated while doing so.

Vander Weide confirmed that he made a 1 a.m. phone call in recent days to Magic superstar Dwight Howard, and Howard thought Vander Weide may have been intoxicated. On that call, Vander Weide told Howard how much the Magic wanted to keep him in Orlando. “I was playing paddle with friends and had a couple of glasses of wine,” Vander Weide told BHSN. “Maybe Dwight thought it was inappropriate to talk business after a couple of glasses of wine. Maybe I should have waited until the morning.” [...]

Vander Weide has been in New York working on the new NBA collective bargaining agreement. “I felt engrained in the committees. Part of the reason I’m stepping down from my role now is because I wanted to complete my role in the new CBA, planning committee and audit finance. I am faithful to David Stern, I really wanted to get through the CBA.”

Baumann has more in his report.

In a media alert sent by the Orlando Magic, a press conference has been scheduled for 11 AM ET tomorrow at the Amway Center. Dan DeVos, Bob Vander Weide, Alex Martins, and Otis Smith are expected to attend, presumably to make an official announcement.

Dwight Howard and the Bulls

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Via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

For now, it is Paul on the market. Howard’s on deck. The New Jersey Nets will have a package of Brook Lopez and picks available for the Magic, enticing Howard with Deron Williams and a new Brooklyn arena to call his own. What’s more, the Chicago Bulls are still a sleeper for Howard, several league executives believe. “Chicago may tell Orlando to take any two players – or three – besides [Derrick] Rose,” one GM said. Howard isn’t keen on the cold weather, but the Bulls would have the best point guard-center combination since Magic and Kareem.

The Bulls have Omar Asik developing fast as a potential replacement for Joakim Noah should the Bulls include Noah in a package. Noah would have to be a part of it, but would a combination of Noah and Luol Deng or Carlos Boozer – bringing back Howard and one of those bad Orlando contracts – be enough? The Magic need a force to replace Howard, an anchor.

The answer to the question is no.

Joakim Noah and Luol Deng or Carlos Boozer don’t equate to either a force or an anchor. Excluding Noah, it equates to an aging, overpaid veteran core that would get the Orlando Magic nowhere close to winning a championship anytime soon. And even with Noah on board, he’s not a centerpiece you build around. Noah is a role player. And if the Magic choose to trade Dwight Howard, the last thing they need in return is role players.

In any case, the odds of Howard landing with the Chicago Bulls is highly unlikely. Howard is not a fan of the cold weather (which puts the New Jersey Nets in a perilous position) nor is he going to play second-fiddle to Derrick Rose. The Bulls are Rose’s team and Chicago is Rose’s city, and there’s nothing Howard could do to change that.

Howard wants to win championships, yes, and teaming up with Rose would give the Bulls a one-two punch that would probably launch them ahead of the Miami Heat as the favorites to win not only the Eastern Conference but the Larry O’Brien trophy. However, Howard wants to win on his terms — meaning that he wants to win as the head honcho. Granted, in the case of the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard would be the best player on the team but he wouldn’t be the leader. That would be Kobe Bryant. Then again, Howard would lead the Lakers into a new era but that’s another story altogether.

Clearly there are teams that are interested in Howard. This isn’t breaking news. But Orlando, and specifically general manager Otis Smith, needs to figure out what Howard wants to do.

Monday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Parsing a general manager’s words to find hidden meaning can be a dangerous undertaking, but in this case, I think the point is obvious. Whether the team decides to “amnesty” Gilbert Arenas or Hedo Turkoglu could hinge on what Dwight Howard tells the organization about his long-term plans. Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not saying Howard will offer any suggestions about what the team should do with amnesty. Not at all. Instead, if the Magic decide they have no other choice but to trade Howard — and, again, they want to keep him for years to come — the team would be well-served to include either Arenas or Turkoglu in the deal. Then the Magic eventually would be able to use the amnesty provision on the player whom they didn’t trade away. That’s one reason why it would make no sense for Smith and the team’s ownership to commit publicly or privately to a specific amnesty move right now.”
• Mark Price has been added to the coaching staff for the Orlando Magic.
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Facing the prospects of a rushed training camp, a truncated preseason and a frantic 66-game schedule, some NBA teams are already concerned about the hectic pace of the season ahead. To some extent, the Orlando Magic are not one of those teams. Because the Magic already have 10 players under contract – six of which have played multiple seasons together – they feel that they have a chance to get off to a fast start because of their roster familiarity.”
• Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com examines the roster architecture of the top Eastern Conference teams.
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post: ”Free-throw shooting remains the All-Star center’s most glaring offensive shortcoming, as he’s shot between 58.6 percent and 59.6 percent from the stripe in each of his last six seasons. Price will work with Howard, but not exclusively, and he’s not merely a free-throw coach. As Josh Robbins of the Sentinel reports, Orlando expects Price to help its shooters improve “coming off of screens, shooting on-balance and developing a quicker release.’ ”
• The Chicago Bulls are a darkhorse to acquire Dwight Howard in a trade.
• Matt Moore of CBSSports.com reacts to Matt Barnes’ comments concerning Howard’s future: “The bigger problem is this continues a pattern. It’s easy to pass this off, to say this is just one role player saying Howard wants to come to L.A. and there’s more to it. But we keep seeing the same things, whether it’s talk of LeBron wanting to play with Wade, or Chris Paul toasting to playing in New York, there are rumors and whispers and small elements that seem to light the way for a small market star headed to a bigger one, and then it happens. And then everyone acts surprised.”
• Andrew Bynum is in the center of the Howard (and Chris Paul) rumors.
• More speculation on Howard.
• Are the Los Angeles Clippers willing to think big and make a go after Howard?

Dwight Howard and the Lakers

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Via Andy Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles:

Turns out, Barnes buys the chatter about Howard’s desire to don purple and gold, because he’s heard the same from a pretty reliable source: Dwight Howard.

“You know, I’ve been hearing [rumors about] Dwight,” acknowledged Barnes. “I’ve been hearing [rumors about] Baron [Davis in the event of getting amnestied]. I’ve been hearing stuff a lot lately. I’ve talked to both of those guys and they wanna be here, so we’ll see what happens. [...]

In any event, if Howard actually wants to be a Laker that wish doesn’t in turn become guaranteed, but the odds are certainly increased. Particularly if a G.M. shares my opinion about the protocol for trading a superstar. Generally speaking, if a team knows its franchise player isn’t long for the franchise, you’re better off trading him earlier rather than later. It’s beginning to look like Otis Smith is seeing the writing on the wall. Even if Howard doesn’t end up a Laker, it’s becoming harder to picture him a Magician considerably longer.

That collective groan you here is coming from Magic fans that have seen this script before and don’t like how it ends. The fanbase, generally speaking, doesn’t mind if Dwight Howard leaves and goes somewhere else but the last thing they want to see is him donning a Lakers jersey. Howard would undoubtedly see the same level of vitriol that Shaquille O’Neal received when he left the Orlando Magic in 1996 to sign as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Howard is seen by fans in Orlando as the anti-Shaq. But in the eyes of many, if Howard were to bolt for the Lakers, he would be seen as no better than Shaq. Instead of “starting his own path,” Howard would be following the same path set by Shaq. That’s the general consensus.

And make no mistake. Howard’s interest in the city of Los Angeles is undeniable. That’s why Matt Barnes’ quotes should be taken seriously.

In case people forget, Barnes has a connection with Howard. When Barnes was a free agent two years ago, after expressing interest to Howard in playing with the Magic, he got a contract offer shortly thereafter. There’s no question that Howard wanted Barnes in Orlando and got his wish. The two were able to foster a relationship while playing together in the 2009-2010 season and even after Barnes left the Magic after one season, he came back to play in Howard’s charity game at the University of Central Florida in November so it’s clear they keep in touch. Barnes is speculating, of course, but to dismiss his word would be foolish. Players talk to each other all the time.

Whether or not Howard gets his wish is another story. Because the Lakers don’t have any cap space to sign Howard as a free agent if he opts out after this season, they would need to acquire him in a trade. At that point, it would be up to general manager Otis Smith to make the decision to send him to Los Angeles or not. If a trade package including Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom, draft picks, and possible salary relief appeals to Orlando, Howard may get his wish. If if doesn’t, then Howard may be out of luck.

Nevertheless, it’s becoming clearer that Howard wants to play for the Lakers.

That much is certain.

Friday’s Magic Word

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Paul gave New Orleans a hint last summer when he floated a trial balloon, basically trying to nudge the Hornets into dealing him. This time, Paul and his agent apparently aren’t wasting any time flying balloons, alerting the Hornets that he won’t sign an extension and they should get what they can for him now. The Magic are in the same place with Dwight Howard, except that Howard, through agent Dan Fegan, hasn’t declared his intentions — at least publicly. For all we know, though, the Magic might be trying to trade Howard right now. As we’ve written before, Howard needs to declare because the Magic will not go through the season gambling that he’ll return if he walks as a free agent. I’d have more respect for Howard if he did what, reportedly, Paul is doing. He owes them that.”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel responds to the idea that the Orlando Magic could risk everything they have to acquire Chris Paul in a trade and pair him with Dwight Howard for a season.
• Magic players are happy to be back in the gym.
• Here’s the latest on Howard’s contract scenarios: “Plays the entire season in Orlando, opts out and ends up elsewhere (either by signing as a free agent or through a sign-and-trade): $80.5 million for 4 years. Gets traded in February, opts out, then re-signs with the team that acquired him: $110.8 million for 5 years.”
• With the return of StatsCube, John Schuhmann of NBA.com breaks down the numbers and sheds light on the disaster that was Gilbert Arenas last season: “Of the 181 players who attempted at least 500 shots last season, only one (Jason Kidd) had a worse field goal percentage than Arenas, who connected on 36.6 percent of his shots. And that number is aided by the 39.4 percent that Arenas shot before he was traded. He made a putrid 34.4 percent of his shots with the Magic. Arenas shot poorly from both near and far. Of the 236 players who attempted at least 100 shots from the restricted area, he ranked 234th at 48.6 percent. And of the 167 players who attempted at least 100 3-pointers, he ranked 157th at 29.7 percent.”
• Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “My reading of the new rules is that Orlando and New Orleans can’t risk their stars playing this out and getting to free agency. If they do, there will be considerable angst and even more considerable risk that their stars will leave and they’ll get nothing in return. One more thing, while we’re on the subject: The Magic and Hornets have the benefit of a shortened season, which would make the short-term ramifications of a blow-it-up-and-start-over trade fairly fleeting. Plus, cap space in a better free-agent market next summer and a superb draft could speed the reloading process.”
• Should the New York Knicks be pursuing Howard instead of Paul?
• Mark your calendars: the Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder will be playing on Christmas Day.