The NBA trade rumors were rocked by a recent revelation of a trade that went close but died out. Could the transaction be revisited before the deadline.
The New Orleans Pelicans needed changes and they needed it fast. That's what Zach Lowe of ESPN pointed out in his column.
"In the days that followed, Atlanta and New Orleans had exploratory talks about possible Howard trades before the Hawks pulled everyone off the market, according to several league sources. It is unclear how interested New Orleans was, and there was not unanimous support within the team for acquiring Howard," Lowe said.
That was a curious tidbit offered by Lowe and while the article was all about the Pelicans, the Howard reveal just shows the extent of uncertainty that the Atlanta Hawks went through.
Lowe still left many factors in the dark: was it the Pelicans who initiated the talks? Are the still interested in Dwight Howard now? The team recently acquired Donatas Motiejunas but he's nowhere near the caliber of D12. Also, the team has had success with Anthony Davis at the center spot and it's likely that they would want to utilize that moving forward.
Still, Howard is having a better year than expected. He is a veteran with NBA Finals experience. Despite his limitations, Howard can still be a reliable defender in the paint.
In a subsequent feature, SB Nation writer Kristian Winfield sought to answer those questions.
For one thing, it was the Hawks who backed out as they pulled out all their trade assets from the market, excluding Kyle Korver who was already traded. It should be noted that "pulling out of the market" is a very volatile status. It could change tomorrow or next week or right before the deadline--or whenever a good trade package is offered.
But will the Pelicans ask them again? Winfield reasoned out that "nothing drives decision making more than winning, specifically winning now. If the Pelicans, indeed, want to make the playoffs, going big could be their best option with Howard easily the best big man reportedly available."
Howard is not washed up but his contract is still a lot to swallow. But if the Pelicans feel that this is their year, they should probably pull the trigger.