If Oklahoma City potentially landed Dwight Howard..

[ORLMagicGirl15]

And, in your opinion: You'd rather let him walk for nothing, and become the Cavs, then get something in return? No, it wont be equal value. You'll never get equal value when dealing a superstar, but it'll give you something to build upon.

The Net's traded VC and that team only won 12 games that year. It's not guaranteed that your team is going to be good whether you let him walk or trade him. But if you trade him and you suck much worst than expected and still have a $90 million payroll with a bunch of contracts you can't get rid of what was the point of the trade? I don't get it. Was the point to get assets back in return? But then you're still trading and you're still stuck with a $90 million payroll until someone's contract expires or expiring and Orlando doesn't have one of those for the next 3 years.

[Bumi]

As a Magic fan, I don't want Howard to leave....whether he does or not will be on him...but to say that Orlando doesn't have any leverage and YET have what OKC wants, to me is incredulous at best. Orlando doesn't need or want Harden, Westbrook or anyone else for Dwight Howard. If they are going to trade him, which I doubt, I think they'll either have him sign an extension or let him walk, they will have all the leverage in the world because they can trade him against any team. I'm sure he'll be just as valuable for any team.

some other Magic fans would say that IF Dwight wants out and would go to OKC, we would definitely take Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka for Dwight+ filler.

The Magic wouldn't get Ibaka, Harden, and Westbrook.

Westbrook + Perkins + Ibaka or Harden + picks.

[DaRealHibachi]

Am I the only person who thinks it's foolish to trade Westbrook at all? I know it's Dwight but if I'm OKC I would NEVER trade Westbrook, not for anything. Idk someone try to talk sense into me.

Not sure if serious...

If the Thunder backcourt was really weak then I'd consider it, that is all. At this point I don't think Oklahoma needs to sacrifice one of the best point guards in the league when they already have one of the best defensive frontcourts.

You might want to reconsider the bolded part, since Westbrook can't hit the broad side of a barn and their froncourt let Z-Bo and Gasol maul them...

Just sayin...

[FutureKnicksGM]

I was just thinking about this yesterday, didn't see this thread until now, good thinking OP.

I think if they did trade for D12, it wouldn't come with an extension attached, so it would be high risk, high reward. But if they do trade for Dwight without the extension, and he has success playing with KD in OKC, there is a chance he would resign, especially if he can play with CP3 too. I would take the chance.

The deal I would offer would be: Westbrook, Perkins, Aldridge, Collison, Sefolosha, future pick

I don't think many teams can/will offer up a young player of the caliber of Westbrook for a possible Dwight rental. Aldridge is a solid young C prospect. Perkins can be shipped to a contender for rebuilding pieces. Collison and Thabo a solid vets on cheap deals.

If it all works out:
Paul- Harden- Durant-Ibaka-Howard
Would be one of them most talented and perfectly balanced lineups ever constructed.

If it fails (Dwight walks, CP3 doesn't sign):
You have Durant, Harden, Ibaka and over $30 million in capspace in a deep free agency class to build a team around them. At worst they would be at the level they are now IMO.

[RoyceDa59]

OKC will not be trading Westbrook, I just don't see it happening.

[kd35sneighbor]

OKC will not be trading Westbrook, I just don't see it happening.

They should though.

[sp6r=underrated]

The Magic have a lot more leverage for Howard than people acknowledge. Out of the major players on the free agent market:

Boston: does have the cap space to sign him
Brooklyn: does have the cap space to sign him
Chicago: no cap space to sign him as a free agent
LAL: no cap space to sign him as a free agent
Miami: no cap space to sign him as a free agent
NYK: no cap space to sign him as a free agent

There are only two major teams that Howard could threaten to sign with as a free agent: Boston or Brooklyn. The nets do have another top player in Williams but are still a bad team. The Celtics have tons of cap space but the only top young player is Rondo. This is far different than the 09 situation when there were plenty of teams in the running for Lebron and Wade. As such the Magic have a better chance of signing Howard than the media is giving them credit.

Even if they decide that they have to trade him they can easily start playing OKC and LAL against each other. LAL knows pairing Howard and Durant makes it extremely difficult for them over the next few years. OKC knows Howard going to LAL dents their "team of the future goal," and also knows Howard/Durant is a one-two punch on par with the Heat. The smart play for Orlando, if they decide to trade Howard (which I don't think they have to), is to aggressively play LAL against OKC.

You can get talent for a player provided you play your cards rights.

[sp6r=underrated]

Also, OT, but people are idiots for claiming the Cavs should have traded Lebron during 2009/2010. Cleveland was a team with a great shot at the title that year. It is only after the Boston series people are claiming they had no shot. No one was saying during game 4, with Cleveland up 2-1 down by 2 going into the 4th, "man the Cavs are morons for not trading Lebron."

If you have a shot at a title you go for it.

[RookieStar]

If OKC drops this against MEM esp if we find out that there is beef between Durant and Westbrook....


well you can bet OKC would practically bend over for a chance at Dwight

[JamesNaismith]

They need to flip Harden + Perk + Maynor + whatever picks they got lying around.