2017 NBA OFFSEASON

i will challenge the assertion that dwight was a better athlete than shaq. young dwight couldn't handle the ball and run the floor like young shaq could

i clarified that i meant he basically stayed in better shape as he got older

he can still produce but cancer is cancer

i still like his trade for the bobcats! that plumlee contract is hysterical!!!

lol marc spears called them the bobcats in his tweet too

i will challenge the assertion that dwight was a better athlete than shaq. young dwight couldn't handle the ball and run the floor like young shaq could

― k3vin k., Tuesday, June 20, 2017 11:25 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

kinda depends on what u mean by athletic i guess, dwight was insane as far as ups quicks and strength, young shaq was huge and strong while also being pretty jumpy and nimble but prob not at dwights level, as far as actual basketball skills obvs it was shaq no comparison

it's weird to read some of these pieces now:

Lakers acquire Dwight Howard in four-team trade
Adrian Wojnarowski

The Los Angeles Lakers have completed their blockbuster four-team trade to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The teams finalized the trade on a call with NBA officials Friday afternoon.

The Lakers will send All-Star center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers, who also will receive shooting guard Jason Richardson from the Magic. The Sixers will send guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. The Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, rookie swingman Moe Harkless, forward Josh McRoberts, forward Christian Eyenga, a first-round pick from either the Nuggets or the New York Knicks in 2014, a protected first-round pick from the Sixers, a protected first-round pick from the Lakers in 2017, a second-round pick from the Nuggets in 2013 and a conditional second-rounder from the Lakers in 2015. In addition to Howard, the Lakers will also receive Earl Clark and Chris Duhon from the Magic.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol had been in previous scenarios of the trade, but his representatives were assured Thursday night that he was no longer in the deal. The trade ends a difficult year of uncertainty for Gasol, who was initially traded to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal for Chris Paul before NBA commissioner David Stern blocked the trade. The Lakers again discussed moving Gasol at the trade deadline and he heard his name in talks for Howard all summer.

"After a while I've been able to block it out," Gasol said. "So I'm relieved."

Orlando, Los Angeles and Philadelphia had discussed a three-way deal, but needed a fourth team to take Iguodala and also provide Orlando with the necessary future draft picks, sources said. Denver joined the talks in the past week, sources said.

Howard's contract ends after this season. He isn't expected to immediately sign an extension with the Lakers because he can get a longer deal in free agency.

Bryant, who is playing for Team USA in the London Olympics, confirmed the trade on his Facebook page.

"Well, it looks like Superman has found a home," Bryant wrote. "…The Lakers have landed a piece that will hopefully carry the franchise long after I'm gone. I have spoken to Dwight Howard, and we are locked and loaded to hopefully bring back the title."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- An image Los Angeles Lakers fans have been dreaming of for two years finally became a reality Friday night as Dwight Howard held up his newly minted Lakers jersey for the first time at the team's training facility.

Sitting on the Lakers' practice court with 10 Larry O'Brien trophies staring down at him from Lakers executive vice president Jennie Buss' office and 12 championship banners and eight retired jerseys surrounding him on the walls, Howard quickly was introduced to the expectations that now will be placed on him before he even addressed the media.

"There's been a lot of speculation regarding Dwight being traded for the last six to eight to 10 months to a year," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "Today, the speculation finally comes to an end. And we're hopeful that 10 years from now, we can add a jersey to that wall over there that says Dwight Howard."

There's no question the ordeal took longer than Howard, the Orlando Magic and everyone involved would have liked, but Howard finally got his wish to be traded from the Orlando Magic on Friday.

In the process, the Lakers were able to pick up the most dominant big man Los Angeles has seen since Shaquille O'Neal, who left Orlando to come there 16 years ago last month.

Howard now joins a storied lineage of Lakers big men dating back to George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and O'Neal, who all led the Lakers to championships after joining the team.

"I don't want to try to compete with those guys," Howard said. "I want to bring my own flavor to L.A. I saw a picture last night. It was like the Mount Rushmore (of Lakers centers) and they had all those guys up there and said, 'Will he join the list of heads with the Lakers greats.' I want to be great in my own right. I want to write my own history and today is the first day of that history."

The Los Angeles Lakers are obviously the big winners of this trade, as Mitch Kupchak essentially managed to swap Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard.

With D12 on board in purple and gold, the Lakers now boast the NBA's best starting lineup: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Dwight.

L.A. now has a center who fits in better with the Princeton Offense—one who also happens to be the best player at his position in the NBA.

With elite players at four of the five positions and a standout defender at small forward, the Lakers are poised to add a sixth ring to Kobe's collection in the immediate future.

Dwight's presence ensures that L.A. is in the hunt for a title while also extending Kobe's prime for a bit longer, as some of the pressure can now be taken off his shoulders.

wow i forgot the nuggets got iggy as part of the howard trade

oof

Dwight Howard is.... younger than Lebron James

if dwight hadnt arrived w a surgically repaired neck it prob wldve worked out

"I saw a picture last night. It was like the Mount Rushmore (of Lakers centers) and they had all those guys up there and said, 'Will he join the list of heads with the Lakers greats.' I want to be great in my own right. "

this quote was the exact moment everyone in the lakers org should have said "uh oh"

people were serious about that team being an unstoppable pick and roll machine

Asked Dwayne Wade tonight why he opted in for 2017-18 in Chicago: "24 million reasons."

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 21, 2017

get fired up bulls fans

it kind of should have been. nash got hurt iirc? xp

lol wade

yeah Nash was hurt from like week 2 and Dwight needed another year to be able to play effectively

fortunately once he got going the lakers were unstoppable

rip kawhi braids
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DCz-XDWVoAAwsqU.jpg:large

well nash was straight cooked

his career was over

certainly with a different nash sure but they got scammed in that deal

old ass nash getting hurt and dwight never regaining his form after major surgery were not exactly out of the blue problems, tho no one was really talking abt them at the time*

*do recall fighting w jordan on here and he was saying there was a good chance dwight wld never recover and i was all its just a lil surgery cmon, lol

omg kawhi he looks like a diff guy

the lakers were just trying to recapture a bit of the payton/malone magic

back problems are scary

Not Wade’s fault the Bulls gave him a lifetime achievement contract for his lifetime achievements with another team.

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) June 21, 2017

lol

burn

riley's a smart guy

yeah he is

18.3 points a game in 29mins on 43% shooting at 35 years old. if I'm 25 with the same numbers I'm getting 150 million 😂 #Fading #petty

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) June 21, 2017

umm

love it

Michael and Jemele love Lopez trade for Lakers

fool me once (or twice whatever)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DC0TCIOXkAAsfcG.jpg

isaiah is the insta rumor maker

a funny thing about the heat and wade is that riley obv let him walk and risked alienating the fan base and then stumbled into a team the fan base loved that played the exact opposite of wade--three point shooting, no ball stopping, effort on defense...

riles is a genius

hes been very ggod at his job for a long time

pelton:

In contrast to Howard's offensive issues, he remains a useful player because of his strong paint defense and rebounding. (Early in the season, he seemed more comfortable coming out high to defend the pick-and-roll. Whether due to an injury or normal wear and tear, this skill faded by the postseason and was one of the reasons Howard struggled against the Wizards.)

Based on Howard's wins above replacement player (WARP) and rating in ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM), I project him as about fairly paid next season and a little overpaid in 2018-19. By contrast, Plumlee brings little on-court value. After falling out of the Milwaukee Bucks' center rotation last season before he was traded to Charlotte, I project him right around replacement level for the remainder of his contract, meaning he'll be paid in excess of $35 million more than he's worth over the next three seasons.

So since the Hawks are taking on the worse contract and the worse players, why are they also trading down in the second round?

If Atlanta was so desperate to be rid of Howard, the Hawks probably would have been better off telling him not to report next season and wait out his contract rather than make this trade. Maybe no market ever would have materialized for Howard's services, but at least his deal ended a year sooner than Plumlee's.

ha niice

when u pay $35m so u dont have to be around someone for one more second

playoff series tied 2-2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jOHNuWnC0

wade still has his moments as a scorer but he's kind of insufferable to root for otherwise

oh yeah i would hate having old coasting wade on my team but i enjoy him from a distance.

there is nothing I enjoy about wade

even in his prime i never cared for his game much not to say that he wasnt good .

he just has a very messy game

aw man i loved watching dwyane slashing to the rim, so smooth

then he falls on the ground