You keep ignoring Houston. Have you not heard all the rumors with Houston continuing to pursue Howard? Even when they amnestied Scola, their sights were on clearing cap to get Howard. Why didn't they take the offer they were given by HOU? Why didn't they take the offer they were given by NJ? And surely the Magic could have been offered something else by the trade deadline for Howard.. and he still could have ended up in LA. but ORL could have gotten a better deal out of it.
I'm not surprised he got traded to LA. I don't think anyone is. I think most people including myself are surprised the Magic made THIS deal. It just doesn't make sense..
Orlando wanted 3 things. Cap relief, a lot of picks and young prospects. They didn't get cap relief from this deal. They took on 2 contracts that will be about 50 million dollars over the next 3-4 years.
I guess 3 first round picks is a lot... but they are protected first round picks and will likely be picks between 20-30. History shows us that players drafted between 20-30 will rarely wind up being any good. between 20-30, there's usually 1-2 guys that end up being any good in each draft class on average. But a lot of those guys either wind up on another team by the time they're any good, or they just wind up being serviceable role players for a team. But if you're trading the best C in the league, you should be getting more than serviceable role players. Or the picks could end up being all-stars. Time will tell. But at this moment, odds are that those players they draft will either suck or won't be with the team for long.
And young prospects... That's definitely not Harrington. Afflalo is almost 27 and isn't really a prospect anymore. He doesn't have much room for improvement and you already know what your're getting out of him. Vucevic is the only young prospect they're getting... and at this point, he just seems average. Who knows though.
Clearly the Magic were interested in the NJ deal. That one was really close to getting done too. But talks were going on too long and time came where the Nets had to make a decision on Brook Lopez which sealed it. They couldn't come to an agreement in time before the Nets had to offer Lopez an extension.
" The Houston Rockets have upped their proposal to a package that could include any combination of the players Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, and Chandler Parsons, draft rights to three more players, and multiple future first-round picks, according to ESPN. One of the most appealing things for new Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan is the salary Houston would also be willing to take on.
Orlando will not get all of those options in a deal for Howard, although reports suggest the Rockets would be willing to take on the contracts of Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, and Chris Duhon. "
You don't think that offer was much better than what ORL got now? Why didn't the Magic do it? who knows. Clearly the Rockets were interested in giving up a lot for Howard.
and that would have been exactly what ORL wanted. Cap relief, picks and prospects.
Which is why I questioned whether or not Hennigan was high. If the Rockets deal was really there and if they really were willing to give up that much, ORL is stupid as **** for passing it up.
