Simmons: Why Bulls Should be Dwight's #1 Choice

[JDRochholz]

I think everyone but Dwight knows this.....what in the world is he thinking? I don't think winning is what he wants right now......

[lu9]

This would be akin to LeBron (or Wade) snubbing the Bulls in the summer of 2010. And when I say snubbing I mean the interview portion. Like not even giving the Bulls a chance to pitch. Dwight is essentially saying, he is not at all interested in joining the Chicago Bulls. I can't even begin to fathom the depth of ridiculousness there.

Simmons' last sentence, which of course has already been stated on here multiple times, rings the loudest. D12 does not not have winning at the top of his list of priorities.

And you know what that means? He and Derrick don't have much in common.

Forget it.

[organix85]

Simply put... Howard is not smart. They could very well have a dynasty here. I don't see how any basketball player could pass up that opportunity. For all the hating LeBron took last year, at least he had the balls to go to a situation that would give him a really good chance to get multiple rings.

[blumeany]

This would be akin to LeBron (or Wade) snubbing the Bulls in the summer of 2010. And when I say snubbing I mean the interview portion. Like not even giving the Bulls a chance to pitch. Dwight is essentially saying, he is not at all interested in joining the Chicago Bulls. I can't even begin to fathom the depth of ridiculousness there.

Simmons' last sentence, which of course has already been stated on here multiple times, rings the loudest. D12 does not not have winning at the top of his list of priorities.

And you know what that means? He and Derrick don't have much in common.

Forget it.

[SoulEater7]

[Wont PerDont]

I think it's pretty apparent that Dwight has interests other than winning and titles. He doesn't want to be in Derrick's shadow, he wants to build his brand and he is also looking at a career in acting.

Good luck with that Dwight.

The acting thing has always puzzled me. Don't these NBA guys realize that they are going to always be typecast as the obnoxiously tall guy?

[blumeany]

I think it's pretty apparent that Dwight has interests other than winning and titles. He doesn't want to be in Derrick's shadow, he wants to build his brand and he is also looking at a career in acting.

Good luck with that Dwight.

The acting thing has always puzzled me. Don't these NBA guys realize that they are going to always be typecast as the obnoxiously tall guy?

Not sure what you mean...

[Jeffster81]

I wonder if Dwight's agent (Dan Fegan, I believe) has tried to talk up Chicago to his client?

With that said, it really is befuddling as to why Howard would ignore Chicago like he is. It boggles the mind that he would prefer to either be second fiddle to Kobe in L.A., or play on the "little sister" team in Brooklyn, instead of being Rose's co-pilot. I hope Dwight comes to his senses. I know it's unlikely, but I still dare to hope.

[RoundMoundOfRebound]

Everyone agrees with that except for Dwight Howard.

[LoveDaBoo]

I think it's pretty apparent that Dwight has interests other than winning and titles. He doesn't want to be in Derrick's shadow, he wants to build his brand and he is also looking at a career in acting.

Good luck with that Dwight.

The acting thing has always puzzled me. Don't these NBA guys realize that they are going to always be typecast as the obnoxiously tall guy?

Not so. There's also Genies, of course.

[organix85]

I think it's pretty apparent that Dwight has interests other than winning and titles. He doesn't want to be in Derrick's shadow, he wants to build his brand and he is also looking at a career in acting.

Good luck with that Dwight.

The acting thing has always puzzled me. Don't these NBA guys realize that they are going to always be typecast as the obnoxiously tall guy?

I can't believe that is really what he's doing. For one, he's already been in a movie... and he's supposed to be in that 3 stooges movie... meaning, his foot is already in the door. Secondly, plenty of other guys have been in movies without being on the Lakers. Lastly, people usually point to Shaq for his movies... but he did Blue Chips before he was a Laker and Kazaam was released before he even played a minute for the Lakers.

Soooo... with all that being said, I really hope that isn't his reasoning... cause it is an extremely stupid one.

[League Circles]

I know that most here will disagree with me, but IMO Dwight really isn't the kind of player people make him out to be. He's a great player, a top ten guy, and the best C by a considerable margin, but I really believe, that today, these guys are still better, and if I were building a team to compete with for one year, he'd thus be behind all of them:

Lebron
Kobe
Dirk
Rose
Durant
Wade

Call me crazy, but having that elite scorer is more important than having a very good, but not elite scorer in Howard, just because he also has the most impact on D. While I think the two most important things in basketball are having that type of takeover scorer and that type of basket defender, it's more of a novelty that Dwight comes perhaps closest to having both in one guy.

Basically, as a matter of illustration (not definitive opinion), having Omer + Rose would be preferable to having Howard + Jameer.

It's awesome to have both great but not elite offense from a big guy in Howard and the elite D he brings, all that really matters is that you have someone on your roster who can do each. I don't really think Howard has proven to be a good enough offensive player to be the #1 offensive guy on a title team. Strictly defensively speaking, I'd also rather have Omer AND Noah for 48 minutes every night than Dwight for 36 and a crappy defender at C for 12 minutes, if that makes sense also.

He's awesome and all, and I've started liking him a little bit again over the past 2 or 3 days, but I just can't believe that people talk about him in the same breath as guys like Shaq, Hakeem, Tim Duncan or David Robinson. IMO he's somewhere in the mix of Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, and Dikembe Mutumbo. Not as good offensively as Ewing but a better defender and rebounder. A better offensive player than Zo or Mutumbo, but not a better defender.

I've gone a little bit off topic, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents about Dwight.

[CalilLove89]

If Noah could average 16-17 points a game Dwight wouldn't be that huge of a deal. If Noah can hit that mark over the next year or year and a half, I would rather wait and take an all star at the 2 guard once RIP's contract is up rather than Howard.

One other thing people need to think about, It might not be Derrick's time to win the chip. He is only 23, he might need to cut his teeth a bit more and let the heat get a little older.

[BuffaloBull]

If Noah could average 16-17 points a game Dwight wouldn't be that huge of a deal. If Noah can hit that mark over the next year or year and a half, I would rather wait and take an all star at the 2 guard once RIP's contract is up rather than Howard.

One other thing people need to think about, It might not be Derrick's time to win the chip. He is only 23, he might need to cut his teeth a bit more and let the heat get a little older.

Normally I would agree with you, but Derrick's maturity level is unbelievable. I mean, for a guy that good to not get caught up in the hype, the way he carries himself, is just way, way beyond his years. He didn't do any charity games, no flag football: hell, the kid went on vacation and went running in the Jacuzzi.

I think his singlemindedness is going to take him where he wants to go. He has the physical traits, and competing, and losing, is giving him knowledge. I don't know if they get over the hump this year (it's a big hump!) but I wouldn't be shocked if they did.

[Rerisen]

Simmons seems to live in permanent fear of the Bulls landing the final piece, and thus burying his beloved Celtics 6 feet under for good.

Fortunately for him, most of his miracle fixes for us rarely come about.

[BigTasty]

Simmons seems to live in permanent fear of the Bulls landing the final piece, and thus burying his beloved Celtics 6 feet under for good.

Fortunately for him, most of his miracle fixes for us rarely come about.

I've noticed this too. For years, he's made comments like "and don't think I'm not terrified of X player going to the Bulls." Even during the Kirk/BG/Deng era.

[Rerisen]

Call me crazy, but having that elite scorer is more important than having a very good, but not elite scorer in Howard, just because he also has the most impact on D. While I think the two most important things in basketball are having that type of takeover scorer and that type of basket defender, it's more of a novelty that Dwight comes perhaps closest to having both in one guy.

These are the two most important things to have yes. Superstar closer/iso/#1 option guy and defensive anchor.

But you shouldn't measure Dwight as needing to fill both. As if you pick Kobe, Dirk, whoever those teams still need defensive anchors. Who aren't that cheap or easy to find. Look how long it took Dallas to get one.

And because Dwight doubles as a very legit #2 on offense, I think you can easily argue it'd be easier to get him the scoring help you need than build complete defenses around a offense only #1 option.

With Rose here, Dwight would complete this team in a way that would be scary, no matter who else was here. Rebuilding the team with nothing else would be almost like building around Mike and Pip a second time, which Krause did with no other holdovers.

If Miami wised up, gave LeBron the karma comeuppance he deserved, they would trade him to ORL for Dwight and win the next 4-6 titles. Or try Wade first (lolz), if they would go for that, since that would extend their window longer.

[spaceheat]

F**k Dwight Howard. If he needs to be coddled and recruited, he is not the type of player we want anyway.

[aaqubed]

Fortunately for him, most of his miracle fixes for us rarely come about.

Unfortunately for him, his Celtics don't seem to have gotten much better this offseason. Just older.

[SpeedyWindRose]

5. Chicago Bulls

And here's why the Dwight Howard era makes me nervous. As I've written before, God doles out the "complete car wash package" to only a handful of athletes. We love the ones who take care of it; we resent the ones who don't. Through seven years, Howard displayed every skill except one: an ongoing thirst to dominate everyone else. Shaq drifted through his career, made excuses, only intermittently stayed in shape and made a point to care about a variety of things — not just basketball — but during the 2000, 2001 and 2002 playoffs, history will show that he annihilated everyone in his path. (Same for Hakeem in the 1994 and 1995 playoffs, Moses in the 1983 playoffs … the list goes on and on.) Dwight hasn't had that moment yet. Never jumped a level when it mattered. Never dragged his teammates to a better place, made them feel invincible, made his opponents say, "Once that guy gets going, we're helpless." If anything, those opponents swung the other way, allowed him to get his stats and concentrated on shutting down everyone else (like Atlanta did last spring).

Quite simply, it's been weird to watch. The numbers say one thing; our eyes say something else. We're watching someone take care of the "complete car wash package," but not totally. And that infamous trade list summed everything up. How could the Chicago Bulls NOT be on it?

How could Howard not be thinking, "Get me to Chicago, I could win right away!"

How could Howard be looking at this NBA landscape without saying, "Maybe it's a good idea for me to team up with Derrick Rose, the 23-year-old MVP?"

How could someone in his camp not point out to him, "Hey Dwight, if you pushed for the Bulls, they could offer Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Omer Asik, salary-cap filler and two no. 1 picks and take back your deal and Turkoglu's deal, and you'd still have Rose, Carlos Boozer, Rip Hamilton, Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson, whatever veterans they can bring in AND the best defensive coach in the league?"

And if you're picking a cold-weather team based on markets, point guards and branding opportunities, how could you pick Brooklyn (living in the shadow of the Knicks), Deron Williams, this goofy Nets ownership, a lousy supporting cast and a franchise with a sad-sack history over Chicago (the third-biggest market), Rose (better and younger than Williams), a better supporting cast, a shrewd ownership and one of the most rabid fan bases in the league?

Put it this way: If I'm Dwight Howard, I'm thinking about titles and titles only. I don't care about money — that's coming, regardless. I don't care about weather — I have to live in whatever city for only eight months a year, and I'm traveling during that entire time, anyway. I don't care about "building my brand" and all that crap — if I don't start winning titles soon, my brand is going to be "the center who's much better than every other center but can't win a title." I care only about playing in a big city, finding a team that doesn't have to demolish itself to acquire me, finding one All-Star teammate who can make my life a little easier (the Duncan to my Robinson), and winning titles. Not title … titles. I want to come out of this decade with more rings than anyone else. I want to be remembered alongside Shaq, Moses and Hakeem, not Robinson and Ewing.

If you're looking at it like that, Chicago has to be the choice. Two summers ago, I thought LeBron copped out by joining forces with his biggest rival; it just seemed peculiar that the most talented player of his generation, and possibly ever, would willingly become the Robin to someone else's Batman. Howard's trade list was peculiar for a different reason: Either he doesn't follow the league, cares about the wrong things, has the wrong people advising him, or all of the above. Because I can't imagine, for the life of me, why Dwight Howard wouldn't be scheming to become Derrick Rose's teammate right now.

As a basketball fan, I'm disappointed. As a Celtics fan, I'm delighted. Either way, the way he ignored Chicago tells me everything I need to know about Dwight Howard. Wherever he lands, that team will definitely win. I just don't know if it'll win. And neither do you.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7352957/the-ninth-day-nba-christmas

**This is not the entire article, just the Bulls portion...FYI"

Simmons did a nice job summarizing everything I've been thinking.