So… that was an interesting evening. I spent a little more than an hour writing a post explaining how Los Angeles’ acquisition of Chris Paul actually made it less likely they would — or rather be able to — make a move to try and acquire Dwight Howard. In a sense Orlando was giving up the (slim) opportunity to acquire Chris Paul in exchange for the security that the big fish — some would say the biggest fish — would get taken out of the pond, so to speak.
Yeah, that is all thrown out the window. The Magic should expect another call about Dwight Howard yesterday and will likely say no, as they have apparently done to this point. Orlando is not interested in trading Dwight Howard without exploring the opportunity to bring in a star player first.
I have gone over in the last two days the situation Orlando is in trying to get one of these star players in a Magic uniform. In the first part, I went over the need to bring in a star player and, in the second part, I went over the difficulty in assembling a package to bring in one of these star players. Obviously, everyone has focused on acquiring Chris Paul. But the point remains the same no matter who Orlando is acquiring, Orlando likely needs a third team willing to take on some of the burden and some help to make a deal work.
Even then it might have been turned down by the other team. Or worse, the league itself. Gulp.
It is difficult. So to illustrate the quandary, let’s insert the Magic into that proposed Lakers-Hornets-Rockets deal.
NBA Trade Machine – ESPN via kwout
This trade does not work. The Magic do not have the kind of salary to make this deal work. Pau Gasol was valuable in that way.
And now things get even more complicated for Orlando with the report from Chris Broussard that Howard is preparing to request the Magic deal him to the Nets, possibly as soon as today. It appears Otis Smith is running out of time to acquire one of the players Dwight Howard wants added to the team — which included Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis and Josh Smith according Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld.
It will be very difficult to assemble a package that will keep the Magic competitive while also netting a star player.
Let’s take a look at the deals readers have suggested.
This trio is from Adam Shrigley (@shrig021):
NBA Trade Machine – ESPN via kwout
NBA Trade Machine – ESPN via kwout
NBA Trade Machine – ESPN via kwout
I think you can see the disadvantage the Magic are at. The third team in all three of these deals are not getting back a star player while giving one up. Sure, they get some nice young pieces like J.J. Redick and Ryan Anderson. Ultimately all three deals come down to a team believing that Hedo Turkoglu (or Trevor Ariza) is a critical piece to their future. That could be a difficult find.
And, as you can see from the trio of deals, the Magic are giving up the most as expected to bring in big name players. They also have to take on some salary which does not help things either.
So we move on from Chris Paul and see what it might take to get Monta Ellis instead. This deal came from commenter, ZynAbila:
NBA Trade Machine – ESPN via kwout
This trade works and might actually satisfy needs both teams need. I would hope this is a deal that is explored. But, it all depends on the Warriors desire to take on Turkoglu. They might be more willing to do it if Orlando takes Ellis and Biedrins off their hands. Maybe this is our last ditch effort.
The point of all this in the wake of Chris Paul‘s nixed trade and Dwight Howard‘s rumored trade request is to show how difficult it is to put together an attractive package for a trade for one of these stars. In every single one of these deals, the trade turns on how much value other teams place in Hedo Turkogly. That is not a good situation to be.
If the Magic cannot find a way to make a deal like the ones above to work, I think we have to explore the next inevitability. The one all Magic fans have been fearing for some time and appears to be coming true…
