Charlotte Hornets: Trade for Dwight Howard?

The Charlotte Hornets should explore trade avenues and Houston just put center Dwight Howard on the market.

The Charlotte Hornets are sitting in the eighth place playoff seed in the Eastern Conference as of the All Star Break. They just lost Michael Kidd-Gilchrist again and are in danger of once again falling back out of the playoff race if they are unable to keep up their defensive level of play. This will not necessarily be fixed by Al Jefferson when he returns.

The Hornets have a defensive minded coach in Steve Clifford. Yet he has never really been able to play the kind of defense that he wanted. Part of that is due to injuries, but part of it is also not having the support he has needed in the interior. He has never had the rim protector that he looked for. For as any big men as the Hornets have, none are quality shot stuffers.

What if the Hornets could change that? A rim protector is now currently being shopped around the league by the Houston Rockets. It is the twenty million dollar man Dwight Howard. Howard has spent much of the season watching James Harden do stuff and the Rockets are looking to make a move to shake up a disappointing season.

Howard can opt out of his deal in the off season. He is likely to do so since that corresponds with the league salary cap increase. That makes him less valuable as a trade piece since the team that gets him would be looking at a rental situation and then convincing Howard to stay. Mark Cuban among others is likely to throw money at Howard in free agency.

So that is the risk with Howard, but in the meantime the Hornets would get a shot blocker who would offer an inside threat to balance out the outside shooting of the other men on the court. With Nicolas Batum around, Howard would likely see the ball more than in Houston.

The other risk is the price. The Hornets would have to include Al Jefferson in any deal to make salaries work. That is not a big deal since Jefferson has been injured and not part of the team’s formula right now. The bigger question is what pieces go with him. The Rockets will likely demand a draft pick. There will be at least one player that goes with Jefferson to Houston.

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The Hornets would have to include Marvin Williams, Spencer Hawes, or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the deal. Kidd-Gilchrist would be too important if he was healthy, and if he is injured there is no market for him right now. Williams is an expiring deal, but also playing good basketball for the team. Either he or Hawes would fit as pieces that would not clog the lane for Harden if on the Rockets.

That would be the simplest trade and I’d prefer the Hawes inclusion personally, but the numbers work either way. The Hornets could try to solve more problems, but that would likely cost the Rockets more than they would want to part with. For instance:

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Howard and Trevor Ariza for Jefferson, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Williams

This would allow Charlotte to solve their current defensive problems by adding a three and defense guy in Ariza who is not hurt. You would be losing out on Kidd-Gilchrist’s future.

Howard and Corey Brewer for Jefferson, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Williams

This would gain Brewer for defense, but be more acceptable to Houston because they would keep Ariza’s shooting.

Next: Lose Kidd-Gilchrist Again

Howard and K.J. McDaniels for Jefferson, Williams, and Brian Roberts

The third bigger trade would go for the young legs on defense to temporarily replace Kidd-Gilchrist while not losing hope that Kidd-Gilchrist will be back. The sacrifice here is Roberts, who is in the last year of his contract. Remember that you could put Hawes instead of Williams and the money would work just as well, but it depends on what Houston would want.

I think a Howard deal is intriguing, I am just not sure I want to shake the boat up too much at this point. It’s something to keep an eye on as we move to the trade deadline.

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