Dwight Howard (Photo : Doug Pensinger | Getty Images Sport)
The NBA trade rumors continue to swirl around Dwight Howard.
This scene is not a new one. Will Dwight Howard be traded or not? That is a question asked by the Orlando Magic a few years ago and it resulted in a blockbuster trade that redefined their franchise. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, the recipient of D12, acquiring Howard proved to be their undoing.
Now the question looms again, and the Houston Rockets is the team on the hot seat. With Dwight on the verge of becoming a free agent again, the Rockets are reportedly calling out to scout their options.
Yahoo Sports writer Bobby Marks took a long, hard look at the Howard situation in Houston and mentioned that there are real limitations that the Rockets need to accept with regards to trading their prized center.
One of them is that other teams might not be willing to surrender their franchise players for Howard, unlike in 2012, when players such as Andrew Bynum and Andre Iguodala were involved. The Lakers somehow still had a full season of D12 while the team that takes him now is only a guaranteed a few months rental.
It is also a possibility that Houston would not trade Howard to a potential rival, so the notion is that he might be headed East again. The usual suspects, the Boston Celtics continue to loom, but Marks has another team in mind.
"The Bulls certainly could offer up a package of Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and their own first-round pick for Howard," Marks said. "The tough part with this type of trade is that the Bulls are in the luxury tax and would take on additional salary, thus resulting in more luxury taxes. For Houston, the first-round pick could essentially be better than the ones Boston is offering. Although Gibson has been a high-level sixth man for Chicago, the Rockets would have to take on Gibson's contract for next season." The consideration is that the Celtics would not add the 2016 Brooklyn Nets pick to the package.
With top player Jimmy Butler out, the Bulls would need a new primary option in the coming weeks and Chicago could see what Howard can do without someone like James Harden limiting his touches.
Bleacher Report outlined a similar trade with Pau Gasol and Noah, but Marks did not see Gasol as a necessary chip at this point. B/R did have another point on why the Bulls should pull the trigger.
"If you really want a blockbuster trade that rolled the dice-something that Gar Forman and John Paxson have been criticized for not doing-this is it," B/R's Kelly Scaletta wrote.
Will the Bulls and Rockets execute this blockbuster deal before the deadline? We have less than a week to find out.
