2118337, the current version of D12 doesn't really make the Nets markedly better
Posted by Bombastic, Wed Jan-23-13 06:12 PM
That might sound crazy but if you've watched this man play this season (I've seen probably 70% of his games in full), you'd realize the guy you're seeing is far below the Dwight Howard that people have in their minds from the height of his Magic days.
What you have right now is a guy whose weaknesses have become more glaring (free throws, complete lack of offensive post moves, turnovers, low basketball IQ, attitude) while his strengths (HGH potency, ability to mask defensive weaknesses, durability, freakish athleticism) have been noticeably all but absent.
I can't say the Lakers couldn't win at least 17 of their first 41 games swapping out him for this year's Lopez or that the Nets would be winning more than 61% of their games with this version of Howard.
Now based on the potential upside of a rejuvenation with a team that's already filled with big contracts from here on out for awhile, I'd take the plunge with him moving forward if I'm the Nets.
But for a guy who will be in his tenth season starting with his re-up (Bird rights tie-in with a max-max contract upcoming) who you will have to start paying at 15 million in his first year escalating up to something like 25-30 million heading into a six-year deal, that would scare the shit out of me as a GM because if he continues to be the Dwight Howard of the past two years with back issues & beneath the rim game without a skill-set that goes with it......he will get your ass fired like he already has two GMs & two coaches in less than a year.
He's been so bad that as a Laker hater & as a guy who enjoys watching Dwight Howard fail nowadays almost as much as I did/do my three least favorite NBA superstars of all-time (Karl Malone, Scott Pippen, Kobe Bryant) I'm gradually starting to believe him staying in L.A. might work in my favor as a hater.
Quite simply, Dwight Howard isn't very good right now, 'best center in the league by default' is the absolute most you could say about him in a complimentary fashion and that 'Top 3 player' ship has been lost at sea for going on two years.
|