bigmoe1952 wrote:VGOSWAMI wrote:There's no way I see the Magic letting D12 step foot on the court without an extension. Having fans come boo D12 all season long and having the media constantly question them wouldn't be a good look for anyone in this situation. And given that D12 won't sign any extension with anyone, he'll be dealt before training camp, imo. If we thought last year was hell, just imagine what happens this year.
I hope you are right,V. But the wildcard in all of this is DeVos. Is he so delusional that he believes if we keep Howard this year, that this team can get him his championship AND Howard will re-sign at the end of the year? I've been smelling his hand all over this. With Nelsons contract and all this talk about holding onto Howard. In my opinion, that would be the absolute worst thing to do. How much leverage would we have in trading Howard when other teams knew we had a very short window to do it in? And if we trade him at the trade deadline, we will probably have a good enough record to make the playoffs, be without Howard after the trade deadline, and end up with a crappy draft pick. Not to mention the total disruption to the team with Howard still being here and causing problems. I really hope DeVos isn't behind this. But I keep wondering if that is how Henny got his job here. By him telling RDV that he could convince Howard to stay. That is what DeVos wanted to hear.
It's possible that DeVos is pulling strings here. But I still think this notion that the Magic will keep D12 is a leverage tactic. When your lone trading partner becomes the Rockets, and there's no one to play against them in an effort to ante up the offer, then the last leverage tactic is to threaten to keep him. And it's a fair move as well. As much as I don't want another circus next season, I also don't want the Magic to be short changed or to take a bad deal.
The Rockets have potential to offer the house, everything Henny could dream of. He's going to let the Rockets ask themselves "how bad do we want D12?" And I personally think it'd be tough for them to say that "we're not going to trade for D12, the best center in the game, because we refuse to part with D-Mo, Parsons, or a rookie", and I think Hennigan knows this. And if the Rockets bluff, then so be it. Let's see how long they go before they get to training camp before coming back to the table.
I think Hennigan has set the price for Dwight. If a team comes along and offers it, he'll be dealt on the spot. The Rockets have the "potential" to pay that price, but may not necessarily be offering it yet. Hence where the leverage tactic comes in and this could play out until one side budges. And you make all valid points. I just don't see how the Magic could go out there with a guy who wants nothing to do with the franchise playing in front of fans. If they're going to keep him, give us all a reason to believe he'll stay. No doubt I'd like to see him stay, but not if he doesn't want to.
