After a year of vague, hieroglyphic warnings, drunken late night phone calls from the General Manager and top of the hour news updates in panicked font regarding what was then and is now, a non-story, Dwight Howard signed a waiver to remain with the Orlando Magic another year.

Despite his talent for cleaning the boards and inciting apprehension in driving guards, speculation on Howard’s employment seemed drummed up, a sort of mini-Decision, just without the interest, intrigue and villainous blood coursing through the blue veins of its thin narrative. Why the media seemed so desperate for another variety hour where a grandiose millionaire selected his place of employment on live TV, I’ll never know.

It also doesn’t help that Dwight’s desire to leave his team was fundamentally different than LeBron’s Cleveland gut kick over a year ago.

We cared where LeBron went because he embodied the new generation of NBA player – more interested in how the media and public perceived them and their “brand” than with actually winning games. James wanted to be a global icon who played basketball instead of the global icon of basketball. We never really trusted him, could never get inside him. His protection could equally be attributed to the team who manages his career as it could ESPN and other media outlets (many of which are so kind as to splice the game winner he hit against the Washington Wizards a few years back so the viewer can’t see he took five steps to score).

Despite his talent as a gifted ball player, there was an overarching argument perched above The Decision that made us confront the way we perceive sports. Does a superstar need to sacrifice himself for the game, to put aside all personal goals and motivations to sublimate himself into our perception of what a heroic sports narrative should entail or are athletes simply hyper-reflexive freaks who are paid vast sums of money to play a semi-complicated game 82 days a year?

There was nothing of the sort surrounding Howard’s contract player option.

He is simply a frighteningly athletic, affable basketball player, the best player at a very weak position, who wishes to work in a different organization than he does currently. That’s it. There’s no scandal. There’s no intrigue. His way of advertising his unhappiness was unnecessarily public but if there is one thing we know about Howard, it’s that he thrives on public attention. He wants to fill the spot of Wacky Big Dude that Shaq vacated after he became petulant and vengeful.

But as much as Howard craves the spotlight, he’s never looked entirely comfortable beneath its heat. He tries hard, don’t get me wrong, but most of his attempts at humor, to me, have fallen flat (I’m thinking especially of the Clark Kent/Superman interview segment from the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals). So it comes as no surprise that his latest attempt at taking center stage was so ill-fated and confusing.

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Howard should have known better. LeBron’s one-hour abomination last year was a conclusive lesson to athletes that public fuck yous to your team don’t go over well with the general population. For better or worse, sports fans care way too much about where athletes work. Sure, it’s understandable for Orlando residents to not want to see yet another center leave for greener pastures instead of building a winning team on the Magic Ironically, the most Dwight-flavored vitriol comes from people who aren’t even Magic fans.

And aside from going public with his desire to seek alternate employment, and the boneheadedly crypto-threat that Orlando should “roll the dice”, Howard went about this pretty ok as far as public spats go. He gave Orlando more than a year’s notice that he wanted to win a championship and if management would not build a winning team around him, he’d go somewhere else to find it. When you see that Otis Smith’s idea of building a championship squad was trading for a pregnant Gilbert Arenas, a banished Jason Richardson and a broken-down, already overrated Hedo Turkoglu, maybe Dwight is right for not trusting the front office.

Howard is the best singular defensive presence since Ben Wallace (on a team that expects Ryan Andersen to flank Howard in the post and trusts Richardson and Turkoglu to lock down the wings, it’s a testament to Howard that the Magic are 4^th in points against per game) but he hasn’t shown he will ever dominate offensively (though he is slowly improving) like O’Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon or David Robinson or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Howard still finds a way to score (22.9 PPG last season, 21.1 PPG this one) although the way he gets points aren’t always pretty. With a game predicated on raw power and a rightful aversion to the free throw line (.485 this season), Howard needs help, particularly in the last minutes of tight games. Andersen and J.J. Reddick aren’t going to cut it as the top scorers on a championship team.

 ———–

To put it more it more clearly, the league average for shooting percentage is .446, the only Magic player with over 300 minutes who shoots better is Howard himself. That’s a problem. For Howard, for Orlando, for everyone who believes the league is already respectable (yes you, Jason Whitlock), and, most importantly, for Howard’s personal trainer.

So why did Howard choose to stay? The roster hasn’t changed, their payroll is still quite high and the holes and gaps in the rotation will only grow as their already old players get even older. In the end, Dwight just wanted his moment in the hot Orlando sun.

He should have learned from LeBron James however, that if you want to go heel, you can’t go half way.

Ah, the 2012 NBA trade deadline draws nigh, and, per usual, the league is aflutter with rumor and speculation. And keeping with what now seems an annual tradition, a single player acts as the star which the NBA solar system revolves. Two seasons ago it was LeBron James; last season, Carmelo Anthony. This year, of course, Dwight Howard finds himself in the enviable position of kingmaker. Any team fortunate enough to acquire his services would immediately vault into contention (depending on the parameters of the deal, of course), while those franchises that have staked their futures on him (*ahem* the Nets) would be left in desperate straits.

There are, of course, a multitude of other players that could find themselves moved before or at the deadline. And while some would undoubtedly benefit from a change of scenery, others have been unjustly dangled by their teams. In order to differentiate between those who should and shouldn’t be traded (as well as those who currently find themselves in uncertain circumstances), I’ve taken it upon myself to analyze some of the more intriguing scenarios.

Trade ‘Em!

The Artist Formerly Known as Ron Artest

The Lakers have about as much chance of moving Artest as Ron Paul does of becoming President. But if a team were to offer so much as a bag of circus peanuts (gross) in return for Metta, they should agree without hesitation. The Artest Era was fun for a time, and he was an integral component of the 2010 title run; but he’s clearly past his prime (to put it mildly), and his enormous contract will prove a hindrance to any effort to start afresh.

The Charlotte Bobcats

The league should ship the entire Bobcats organization (aside from Kemba, of course) to Canada for some caribou and a six-pack of Molson.

Monta Ellis

A scorer as dynamic and exciting as Monta Ellis is hard to come by, but Warriors management will, at some point, be forced to surrender one (or more) of the Ellis-Curry-Lee tandem (which has failed to produce results commensurate with its talent), and transform their team from a toothless irrelevancy into a more competitive outfit. That Stephen Curry is clearly the future of the franchise should be incentive enough to move his backcourt partner for a player (or players) who could better complement his playmaking abilities. Perhaps Portland or Detroit would be appropriate destinations for a guy who’s undeniably gifted (he consistently finishes in the top-ten of scoring season after season), but who simultaneously could benefit from a fresh start elsewhere.

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen

I love KG and Ray Ray, and would not be displeased to see them retire as Celtics. But with the Green on the verge of collapse, and with little hope of luring Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, or any other marquee free agent(s) to Beantown this summer, the time is ripe to cash in on the Big Three era and at least receive something in return for two guys who can still contribute to a playoff team. Draft picks, complementary role players, a time machine that could be used to undo the Kendrick Perkins trade: any and all would be more than sufficient compensation for a franchise that has little hope of competing for a title this season.

Ben Gordon

Ever since his remarkable string of performances during the 2009 Playoffs, Gordon has essentially become the NBA’s Forgotten Man. Which should, of course, come as no surprise, considering that he’s toiling away on one of the most hopeless and depressing teams in the league. And although he’s played (relatively) well since his arrival in the Motor City, his albatross of a contract probably prevents teams that would otherwise benefit from his services from actively pursuing a deal that would pry him away from Joe Dumars’ grasp.

But Gordon should be high on the list of any franchise seeking to bolster its chances at competing for a title this season, regardless of the money and assets it’d be forced to relinquish. It’s not hard to imagine that teams like the Clippers (in desperate need of a reliable shooter) or the Sixers (in desperate need of a crunchtime scorer) would find themselves in a much more desirable position moving forward if they somehow managed to convince Dumars (who must be itching to correct some of his mistakes and relieve himself of the onerous contracts he’s burdened himself with over the last few seasons) to correct some of his missteps of years past.

Don’t Trade ‘Em!

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum

Something’s amiss in La-La Land, despite the Lakers’ recent success. Indeed, events of the last six months (the Mike Brown hiring, the Lamar Odom deal, the Paul Gasol trade rumors, the Andrew Bynum trade rumors, Kobe’s (very) public excoriations of management, the players-only meeting, etc.) have made obvious an ugly, worrying truth, one which should cause Lakers fans to tremble with fear in regards to their team’s future: Jerry Buss has bequeathed his empire, one of the most successful franchises in sports history, to a court jester.

For how else can one characterize a man who signed off on replacing Phil Jackson with a coach widely regarded as one of the league’s lesser lights? Or one who seems intent on destroying his relationship with his best player? Furthermore, that Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak have consistently attempted to surrender their team’s greatest matchup advantage (i.e. their height and size) in order to complement one ball-dominant guard with another is only further evidence that we’re witnessing one of the worst successions since Andrew Johnson replaced Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

What Buss (and Kupchak) should have been doing since his ascension to the throne was redoubling his efforts to surround his core with role players capable of helping extend the Lakers run (sorry, Troy Murphy and Jason Kapono don’t count). Indeed, instead of moving Lamar Odom for, well, nothing,  it would’ve behooved Buss/Kupchak to exchange him for a package of role players that could either a.) stretch the floor for Kobe, Pau, and Bynum, or b.) bring some toughness to a squad that’s about as intimidating as a Kleenex.

Alas.

Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce

I’ve addressed this in the past, but it bears repeating: relinquishing Rajon Rondo would be a mistake of monumental proportions. He’s only twenty-six, he’s one of the league’s best point guards, and there’s little chance that Ainge would be able to swing a deal for a player of equal value. What the latter should do is stop reading from the Jim Buss Bible and cease alienating his best guys with public declarations of disloyalty, particularly in regards to players who rescued his career.

As for Pierce: perhaps it’d be foolish to surrender to sentimentality and retain a player who’s clearly on the decline. It would, however, be equally as callous to trade a guy who not only carried your franchise through thick and thin for over a decade with (relatively) few complaints, but also one who lead your team to its first title in 22 years.

Besides, I’d probably incite a riot if he was dealt. And no one wants that.

Who the Hell Knows?!

Dwight Howard

Who the hell knows indeed! Every day brings a fresh set of rumors, all of which seemingly invalidate one another. If Howard is inclined to leave this summer, than the Magic have a plenitude of options, and Otis Smith and his staff will have ample opportunity to exchange their  center for a star player (of lesser quality, of course) or a package of players and picks that will (hopefully) ease the franchise’s transition into the post-Howard Era.

Steve Nash

Nash finds himself in a position similar to that of Paul Pierce: he’s a loyal, hard-working, future Hall-of-Famer who, in a perfect world, would remain with his original team until career’s end. But just as it will be tempting for Celtics management to hit the reset button and trade their erstwhile cornerstone for younger faces, so too do the Suns find themselves wondering whether the time has come to begin anew. Could a deal with Indiana, Utah, Atlanta, or Portland prove beneficial to all the relevant parties? Or would trading Nash only inaugurate a depressing rebuilding process from which it would take many years to emerge? Only time will tell.

Deron Williams

Whether Deron Williams leaves or remains in New Jersey/Brooklyn appears entirely contingent on whether and how the Dwight Howard crisis is resolved. And, unfortunately for the Nets, failing to acquire the latter could signal end of the D-Will Era. That’s why Nets management should at least consider moving their point guard so as to avoid the humiliation that would inevitably ensue this summer if Howard were to stay in Orlando or was moved elsewhere.

One of the more underrated aspects of Kobe Bryant’s game is his quotability.

From discussions of trips to Pluto, shipping players’ asses out of town, and assessing his co-star’s need to cut down on the carbs, Bryant has never shied away from expressing an opinion. A few days ago, Kobe was at it again with this gem regarding the dynamic between Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum, and PF Pau Gasol in the Lakers’ offense:

“It seems like it’s changed a little bit…Andrew is thirsty to score and he can score. He has more of a scorer’s mentality [than Gasol], so we’ll take advantage of that.”

“We will be going into him a lot,” Bryant continued. “He’s kind of taking over that role. He’ll just get used to the consistency of touches and dealing with double teams and stuff like that. He’ll be fine. He’s a quick learner.

“Pau has to shoot it,” Bryant said. “He’s not a scorer by nature. That’s been the biggest thing with Andrew’s development. Andrew is thirsty to score. That takes a lot of pressure off of Pau. But when Pau has shots, he has to shoot them.

“I think it’s natural. You got to be who you are. Andrew, he loves to score, so we got to feed off of that. Pau is just going to take what the defense gives him.”

In line with Bryant’s passive aggressive leadership style (finely tuned during his apprenticeship under Phil Jackson), he managed to question Gasol’s role on the team, his willingness to be aggressive, and his lack of desire to score all in one three minute postgame interview.

Pau, not to be outdone in the passive aggressive category, responded with:

“We have to make plays like that down the stretch where [Kobe] trusts that the open teammate is going to convert and make the right decision,” Gasol said. “I think it’s important for us to make those plays, knock those shots down and then he’ll be more comfortable kicking the ball out when he’s double teamed.”

A nice, innocent-sounding nugget which subtly jabbed at Kobe for not trusting his teammates and taking ill-advised shots while double teamed – just another day in Lakerland. But all of this banter really just brings us to the substantive question: is it in the Lakers’ best interests for Andrew Bynum to be the official no. 2 option?

In this instance, I would say Bryant is 100% correct for the following reasons:

1.      Bynum’s activity level is defined by his usefulness at the offensive end.

Any office stiff (including yours truly) knows the feeling: the more that  your boss trusts you and gives you increasing responsibility, the more motivated one becomes. On the other hand, if your boss treats you like Milton Waddems at Initech,  and has you repeat the same mundane tasks  day in and day out, it can have the opposite effect. On the Lakers, this phenomenon tends to vary depending upon the individual. For example, Josh McRoberts will grab 7 rebounds and make 3 hustle plays every night regardless of how many times he is passed the ball. Andrew Bynum, on the other hand, is the epitome of the player that relies on offensive touches to get the rest of his game activated.

This year demonstrates that fact nicely. Mike Brown, realizing how important Bynum’s offensive involvement is to his overall mental make-up, has made the smart move of heavily involving him in the Lakers offense.  As a result, Bynum’s 20 ppg average has been accompanied by a whopping 16 rpg and 2 bpg. Furthermore, he has become the dominant low-post presence that the Lakers have been waiting years for.

Gasol’s energy, on the other hand, seems to maintain at a more steady level even when he is not as involved in the offense, his numbers of 17-9 only slightly off the 18-10 double-double average he posted last year.

2.      Gasol is the better passer.

By forcing Bynum into the no. 2 option, Gasol is further thrust into a facilitator role, an area in which he clearly has an edge over Bynum. Gasol – the de facto “NBA’s most skilled big” until his disastrous Mavericks series last year, has always been an effective passer from most areas around the court. In a high post set consequently, Gasol becomes a threat to pass in down low to Bynum, find an outside shooter or cutter, or make a 15-footer himself.

On the other hand, Bynum this year has turned into The Great Black Hole, racking up all of 3 assists in him first 5 games. This is all fine however, as the roles on this Laker team become more clearly defined, and allow each player to focus on the skills that can benefit the team the most.

3.      Gasol cannot be relied when the going gets tough.

Sadly for Gasol, another reason to move over to the number 3 option is his propensity to disappear at critical junctures for the Lakers over the past 4 years. Most glaringly, during his 2 playoff series losses vs. the 2008 Boston Celtics and 2011 Mavericks, Pau was a shell of himself, performing especially poorly in hostile road environments. In these situations, Gasol was neutralized by an aggressive defense that was physical with him early, taking him out of the low post and creating hesitation in his own shot selection.

Primarily because of his size and as long as he remains healthy, Bynum should be less prone to physical intimidation. Additionally as Kobe notes, his “scorer’s mentality” should allow him to stay more engaged than Gasol as he gains more experience in the NBA.

4.      Bynum is the heir apparent, not Gasol.

If it’s not already clear to everyone paying attention (outside of Spain perhaps), as long as Bynum is in LA, he is the future of the Lakers. At 24 years old, Bynum has at least 5-6 years left as a dominant force in the NBA (assuming the early returns of this year are no fluke).

Consequently, it is in the Lakers’ best interest to expedite Bynum’s development as an alpha dog. The only way to realistically do this is by forcing Bynum up the food chain to take on additional responsibility sooner rather than later. The learning experiences that Bynum gets today (however forced they may be at times), will allow him to make this seamless transition in a couple of years as Kobe’s scoring begins to slow down.

5.   Increased leverage in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes

Come on, you knew this was coming didn’t you?

Even if none of the other reasons were valid, this reason alone is enough for the Lakers to make Bynum a heavily featured item in their offense. An Andrew Bynum averaging 20-15 is immensely valuable in a Dwight Howard trade offer against increasingly limited competition – and make no mistake, if Orlando came back to the table with a Bynum-for-Howard straight up trade offer, Andrew Bynum would be on the first flight out to Disneyworld. Don’t be shocked if it turns out Mitch Kupchak lobs regular reminders in to Mike Brown to keep Bynum playing at his current levels.

After days of speculation, false rumors, “advanced talks”, and near-consummated transactions, the Orlando Magic began the 2011-2012 season by serving notice to the league that Dwight Howard would no longer be available for trade. Of course, all this really meant was that suitors needed to come to the table with far better offers than Joe Barry Carroll and a bunch of scrubs. It has become evident to both the Magic, and teams around the league, that Dwight Howard will leave Orlando at the end of this season after declining a long-term extension, thereby placing the Magic in the unenviable position of having to move their franchise player prior to the trade deadline.

Of course, Dwight has certainly been doing his part to expedite the process, offering up his share of uninspired efforts to begin the season, and exhibiting a body language that rivals only my own when I’m out shopping with my wife. In parallel, Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan, has actively attempted to broker discussions with the three teams that are at the top of Howard’s list: the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks.

However, if Howard truly wants out, his best chance of accelerating a trade will be to provide the Magic with a win/win scenario for all parties involved. This would entail:

a.) Dwight Howard going to a team that resides within a large market, can provide multiple endorsement opportunities, and has a supporting cast that not only offers him an immediate chance to win, but also provides him with multiple opportunities to win in the future.

b.) The Orlando Magic receiving a combination of players that not only enable them to them to build for the future while retaining salary cap flexibility, but also enables them to remain competitive in the present.

c.) Howard’s new team being able to acquire the league’s best center without gutting the core of their team, and maintaining enough of a supporting cast to become both an instant and long-term title contender.

If we accept these criteria to be realistic, then only one questions remains: Why on earth isn’t Dwight Howard pushing for a trade to the Chicago Bulls?

As it stands today, Howard’s first choice is reportedly to go to the New Jersey Nets to play alongside All-Star point guard Deron Williams. The Nets are offering a package that includes Brook Lopez and multiple first round draft picks. The Nets will also be moving into a new state-of-the art facility in Brooklyn next season, and will have a clean slate of salary cap space beginning in the summer of 2013, thereby enabling them to sign a 3^rd max (or close to max ) player and forming their own ‘Big Three’. The Nets are owned by Mikhail Prokhorov – a billionaire, international mogul, and willing spender who can offer Howard the benefits of playing in New York, which boasts international fame, endless publicity, numerous endorsements, a 3:1 female-to-male ratio, and a 1:1 neurotic female-to-psychiatrist ratio….. trust me, I learned the hard way.

However, Howard has said that he wants to win now, and outside of Deron Williams, the Nets have very little to offer in the area of a supporting cast for the next 2 years. The Nets have also historically lacked a winning culture, having never won a NBA championship (sorry, the ABA doesn’t count) and having gotten past the second round of the NBA playoffs more than twice. Would Howard really be willing to wait nearly 2 years to rebuild, while banking his future on a franchise that has had a questionable commitment to winning? Moreover, why would Orlando be willing to take on a potentially injury-prone center (given the complications of stress fractures), and a series of draft picks that will likely be on the low end as long as Williams and Howard are still playing?

Howard’s second choice is the Los Angeles Lakers who are reportedly mulling an unofficial offer of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The Lakers are the league’s most successful and celebrated franchise, having demonstrated a commitment towards winning, and a track record of eventually rewarding every one of their dominant centers with a championship ring (Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan). The Lakers can also offer Howard the opportunity to play in a major market alongside one of the greatest players to ever play the game in Kobe Bryant, movie-roles, 65 degree winters, and a 500:1  vapid/shallow female-to-well adjusted female ratio….. trust me, I learned the hard way.

The problem is that the Lakers can only offer Howard temporary success. Kobe Bryant will be closer to 34 once the playoffs start and is on the downside of his career. Moreover, trading both Bynum and Gasol would leave the Lakers extremely talent-deficient, and provide very little flexibility for improvement in the future given the salary cap restrictions under the new CBA, and especially if they have to take on Hedo Turkoglu’s salary as well. Lastly, does Howard really want to follow in the foot steps of his TNT adversary, Shaquille O’Neal, who has continually criticized him for his lack of originality? And given Bynum’s recent resurgence, are the Lakers even willing to trade for Dwight Howard? We certainly know that Pau Gasol alone is not going to be enough to pry Howard away from the Magic, so would the Lakers really be willing to give up both players?

For Orlando, Andrew Bynum gives them the opportunity to acquire a franchise level talent, and second best Center in the league. But would Orlando want to bank their future on Bynum’s balky knees? After all, he has had 3 injuries in the past 4 years and only been able to play an average of 51 games per season.

Last comes the Dallas Mavericks who are able to offer, well…. nothing. I wrote about this in an earlier article, but the Mavs are gearing toward the summer of 2012, which by no coincidence will be their best chance for acquiring not only Dwight Howard, but Deron Williams as well. However, in order for this to happen, Howard will need to make a conscious decision to refrain from signing a long-term extension, regardless of whichever team he is on, and become an unrestricted free agent. And based upon what we saw with the Miami Big Three in 2010, are we really ready to rule any conspiracy theories out?

If not, the Chicago Bulls can offer the best “win/win” package for all parties involved. The Bulls can offer an All-Star caliber center in Joakim Noah (27 years old) who is a double-double guy when healthy, brings a wealth of hustle and intangibles to the table, and is a great team player; Taj Gibson (26 years old) who is a solid double-double guy and already one of the best defensive power forwards in the game; and Luol Deng (26 years old), an All-Star Caliber player who can score 18-20 per game, and has become one of the best defensive small forwards in the game. Most importantly, the Bulls can offer the Orlando Magic the Charlotte Bobcats’ protected number one pick in 2012, which given the depth of the 2012 draft, has the potential to result in a promising young player. This pick becomes more and more valuable as the years go by; Lottery protected in 2012 , top-12 protected in 2013, top-10 protected in 2014, top-8 protected in 2015, and unprotected in 2016. After all, are the Bobcats really going anywhere? The end result is that the Bulls can offer Orlando a better short-term package than the Nets, and a better long-term package than the Lakers, while enabling Orlando to remain competitive, retain cap space, and build towards the future.

If you are Orlando, which package would you prefer?:

Package #1: Brooks Lopez  + multiple low first round draft picks (likely 20-30 range)

Package #2: Andrew Bynum + Pau Gasol (32 years old)

Package #3: Joakim Noah + Luol Deng +  Taj Gibson + High Lottery Pick

The Bulls can offer Dwight Howard (who really holds all of the cards in this game) a better short-term scenario than the Nets and Lakers, and a better long-term scenario than the Lakers. With the Bulls, Howard would get multiple title shots over the next 5-7 years while playing alongside Derrick Rose – the reigning MVP, and one of the 10 best players in the NBA. And while the Bulls will initially sport a lineup of Rose/Hamilton/Howard/Boozer/Asik they will be able to add a significant piece(s) through free agency by amnestying Carlos Boozer (which will happen at some point).

So why won’t Dwight put the Bulls at the top of his list?

Howard has mentioned that he would like to go to a warm weather city, but is Chicago really that much colder than New York? The average low during winter months in Chicago is 22.5 degrees. The average low during winter months in New York is 30.5 degrees. Moreover, Howard would spend 50% of his time traveling during the NBA season anyway. Would Dwight really turn down his best chance at winning for a mere 8 degrees?

There are also reports that because Dan Fegan assisted in negotiating Joakim Noah’s contract with the Bulls, Fegan would be resistant to pushing a trade that included his client? However, we all know that sports agents are ruthless and soulless individuals who force athletes to play injured beyond their prime, date single moms, get attached their nerdy kids, and generate cheesy movie lines that have any unending cable TV shelf-life, right? These guys can do anything, right? If so, why can’t Fegan sell Noah on the lack of state taxes in Florida, proximity to his Alma Matter, and the prospects of playing for the venerable Stan Van Gundy? Ehhh, ok…. probably not, but as I mentioned before, Howard, not Fegan, holds all of the cards, and if he wants to make this deal happen, he can make it happen.

A Dwight Howard To Chicago Bulls Trade makes sense.

A few weeks ago, Michael Pina of Both Teams Played Hard wrote a nice article asking the basic question:  “if you could draft one player to start your team today, who would it be?”.  This is an interesting spin on the more asked (and usually beaten down) question of “who is the best player in the NBA?”, because, to evaluate who you would draft involves analyzing who would give you the best opportunity to win championships, who has the greatest longetivity, who would be the best cultural fit, etc..

Pina’s top 5 were as follows:

5. Russell Westbrook

4. Dwight Howard

3. Blake Griffin

2. Derrick Rose

1. Kevin Durant

While Pina makes some good arguments about why each of these players belongs on the list, my take on this subject is slightly different. Let me explain.

Lebron must be #1 on this list.

Regardless of his Finals performance (or rather last 3 games), I don’t see any way you can leave Lebron off the list (or for that matter, not #1). The addition of Lebron (and ok, to a lesser extent, Chris Bosh) to the Heat and subtraction from the Cavs took one team from mediocrity to within 2 games of the championship, and sent the other straight to the bottom rung of the NBA ladder. Add on top of that the fact he is 26, is the best player in the NBA, has a steadily improving game, has become a defensive monster, AND makes his teammates better – and there seems to be no question who should be at the top.

Generally speaking, you should be a scoring wing or dominant center to qualify.

The recent history of the NBA has shown that, while we are in a golden era of the 6’3” point guard currently, the players that win championships tend to be either superstar wing players or dominant centers. A history of the last 20 years have players like Jordan, Pippen, Olaujuwon, Duncan, Kobe, Shaq, and Wade winning the vast majority of championships. There have been exceptions such as the 2004 Pistons or the 2008 Celtics, however these teams were much different in that they had no single superstar, but rather a collection of All-stars that blended extremely well as a team (and happened to play world class defense). One could argue that Duncan and Nowitzki were power forwards, but even here, each of these players have the size of an NBA center and are often asked to play that position during the season.

What does this mean? Just that players like Russell Westbrook, Rose, and Griffin, while great players in their own right, face a steep climb to win an NBA championship as their team’s primary go-to player.

I would rather have 5 legendary years from a player than 10 years from a high-level All-star.

Legends win multiple championships, all-stars just help their teams to playoffs. At the end of the day, there are only a handful, and you must overweight any draft of this nature to acquiring legends, even if it costs you a few years in the process (within reason, of course). Again, there are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking there are only a few players in the NBA that are truly “bankable”. A corollary to this statement is, as most savvy NBA fans will admit: you would rather have 2 superstars on your team than a handful of high achieving All-stars. If you are going to draft players to start your team, you MUST ensure they are superstar caliber. In this instance, I’m not convinced that Blake Griffin (despite his “legendary” rookie year) or Russell Westbrook, will meet this criteria over the course of their careers.

Clutchness is an important factor.

None of a player’s physical talents matter if they fail to deliver when it matters most. The greats get it done down the stretch. Despite Lebron’s failings in the final games of this year and last year’s playoffs, his clutchness has steadily improved over time – a look at the clutch stats show he has been one of the most clutch players in the NBA for many years now. For other players, like Kobe Bryant (unless you’re Henry Abbott or The NBA Realist), Derrick Rose, and Dwyane Wade, their clutchness among current NBA players is unquestioned.

So my top 5 are…

5. Derrick Rose

4. Dwyane Wade

3. Dwight Howard

2. Kevin Durant

1. LeBron James

As stated, Lebron at #1 was an easy choice for me. From there, I agreed with Pina that the next obvious choice is Kevin Durant. Not only does KD have perhaps the best offensive game in the NBA, he is showing signs of life in both the leadership characteristic as well as defense – perhaps the two lingering questions regarding his game. You also get the sense with KD that he has just scratched the surface of his potential, so for that reason alone, he is our next best bet to build a team around.

Dwight Howard, despite what most would say is a lack of clutchness, comes in at #3 because in an era marked by a lack of dominant centers, Howard stands several notches above the rest. Even with really no other legitimate All-stars to speak of on his 2009 team, Howard was able to lead the Magic to the NBA Finals. Howard will go down as the best center of his current generation, and it stands to reason if you can combine him with just one reasonable piece, the team you would draft would contend for a championship for years to come.

Wade beats out Rose in my book for two reasons: (1) he has been there and done it and (2) as I mentioned, I value scoring wings over small point guards. In addition, I’m not convinced that Rose, as a scoring point guard, would be as easy of a player to build around as Wade (e.g., if you brought in a scoring wing for Rose, would that diminish his performance? Can he be a pass first point guard?) Finally, of all the players on this list, I believe Wade is the guy I would hands down want on my team with the game on the line in the Finals. Wade is definitively one of the top 3 players of this generation and a future legend. All this means that even though I get Wade for perhaps 5-6 less years than Rose, I would rather take my chances with him first.

Lastly, it is a compliment from my perspective that Rose makes the list at #5. While I believe there may be better all-around point guards (see: Chris Paul), Rose brings intangibles of toughness and clutchness , which, as I mentioned above, cannot be underestimated. He seems to play biggest when the lights are brightest – and that is something you cannot teach. Add that to the fact he is 22 years old, and Rose makes our final slot.

What would your draft look like?

Man, those NBA Playoffs were pretty great, weren’t they? So who’s up for some free agency and trade talk? Oh, that’s right…no one. Instead, we’ve had the game taken away from us for what looks to be quite awhile as the two sides figure out how to divide the pie. Sure, we could spend all of our time bitching a moaning about who’s wrong and who’s to blame. But I don’t have the energy or the law degree to properly get down into the muck and search for an answer. And frankly, I don’t really care. I’d rather spend my time on things a lot more entertaining this summer, as I’m sure you would too, dear reader.

Thus, I give you ten deals that should get done once the lockout is lifted. For the most part, I’ve tried to remain faithful to the most recent trade rules, trying to match up salaries and the like. But mostly, consider this the basketball version of an online dating service, just trying to create happy relationships. So without further ado, let’s start with…

10. Andre Iguodala for Ben Gordon – For a couple of weeks, hardly a day went by when Iguodala wasn’t rumored to be going to one team or another. Which is probably just as well considering his discontent with the way things are progressing in Philly and the idea that he’s quickly becoming the odd man out on a young, rebuilding squad. His trade value is still high even if injuries caused his numbers to slip a little bit last year, making this the perfect time for the Sixers to move him. For Iggy, a move to the Motor City probably isn’t the situation he’s looking for, but his scoring and athleticism could bring a lot to a team struggling to find an identity. And if he’s still not happy, he has the choice to opt out of his deal in two years and look for greener pastures.

Similarly, Gordon was a big part of the mass mutiny that took place on the Good Ship Piston this past year and has pretty much worn out his welcome in Detroit. He was never the player the Pistons thought they were getting when they signed him to a five-year, $55 million deal in ’09. A change of scenery could do him some good. Playing for a team in need of a long-range shooter could do him even more good.

9. Donald Sterling for Justin Timberlake – Justin Timberlake probably knows very little about running an NBA team. That’s okay, the same applies to Sterling. But after purchasing a piece of MySpace, it appears that the pop star is interested in sinking some of his fortune into losing propositions. With emerging stars like Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan on the roster, the Clips have a brighter future than the website right now. Plus, Timberlake could bring some much needed star power to the Clippers sidelines to help them compete with the Lakers for those nightly TV beauty shots.

As for Sterling…well he’s used to polishing turds thanks to his lengthy fortune-building career as a Los Angeles slum lord. And if you believe the stories that Sterling has bullied and intimidated David Stern on a number of league issues, the Commish could find a bit of revenge by banishing The Donald to the abandoned amusement park of the Internet.

8. Devin Harris for Jason Richardson – The Utah Jazz were rumored to have been shopping Harris, which signals that they could be looking to remake this team in Tyrone Corbin’s image and turn the page from the Jerry Sloan Era. Orlando would be a great home for Harris, where he could be part of a very interesting backcourt with Jameer Nelson. He also gives the Magic that second option at point guard that they’ve been missing since losing Rafer Alston. Only Harris is better. Plus with a team that has been so three-point-happy in recent years, having a guy who can get to the rim would be a nice change of pace for Stan Van Gundy‘s offense.

It does mean saying goodbye to Richardson’s three-point shooting. But that would be more than welcome in Utah where the Jazz could desperately use someone that has the ability to spread the floor and open things up for the glut of big men the team has collected. Now if only one of those big men could be a consistent offensive threat…but you can’t really have it all, can you?

7. Josh Smith for Glen “Big Baby” Davis – These are two guys who just don’t seem to fit in their respective situations anymore. Smith’s problems in Atlanta have generally been from the neck up. His talent has been undeniable, but his general aloofness were a contributing factor to Mike Woodson’s eventual dismissal. J-Smoove can get to the rack just about anytime he wants, but his insistence on turning himself into a jumpshooter was not only confounding, but brought audible groans from the Philips Arena crowd during the playoffs every time he launched anything longer than a five-footer. In Boston, his desire to drift away from basket and take the occasional 15-footer would be tolerated with other big guys there to bang inside.

Of course, Davis would have been one of those big guys, but with Kevin Garnett, Nenad Krstic, Jermaine O’Neal and Troy Murphy already on the roster and the Celtics drafting Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson, there’s no room (literally and figuratively) for Davis. In Atlanta, however, Big Baby’s physical style could be what the Hawks need to help them compete in the Southeast division with the likes of Orlando and Miami.

6. Rip Hamilton for Carlos Boozer – Perhaps inspired by the draft stylings of David Kahn in Minnesota, the Pistons have recently begun stockpiling guards, most notably picking up Kentucky star Brandon Knight in the draft. With overcrowding in the backcourt, the veteran Hamilton, with his large contract, is the leading candidate to move on. Plus it’s hard to imagine him wanting to stick around after being exiled to the bench for a long stretch last season. A move to Chicago means Rip gets another solid opportunity to chase a championship before his career is over and gives the Bulls a much needed additional perimeter option to help out Derrick Rose.

Meanwhile, if there’s one thing we learned during the postseason, it’s that Carlos Boozer is expendable. He missed the start of the season with injuries then played at less than 100% during the playoffs. When he was on the floor during the postseason, underwhelming was probably the best word to describe him. All the while, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson did yeoman’s work in his place. The Pistons, with their surplus of guards, could use someone to help Charlie Villanueva along the front line and Boozer could be just what the doctor ordered.

5. Monta Ellis for Lamar Odom – The only name involved in more trade rumors than Andre Iguodala was Monta Ellis. He was constantly being put on and taken off the trading block and was connected to seemingly every team in the league. But with Steph Curry and now Klay Thompson in Oakland, it would seem hard for new coach Mark Jackson to keep everyone happy. Since the W’s have hitched their wagon to Curry, it would mean Ellis is the odd man out. It would eat Warriors fans alive, but he is a good fit for a Lakers team looking to get more athletic at the point guard spot. Ellis is what L.A. hoped Shannon Brown could be, an athletic scorer who can stay with the quicker guards in the league and eventually take over for Derek Fisher. Whether Ellis is ready to give up a lot of shots and defer to Kobe Bryant remains to be seen, but on paper, he fills many of the Lakers’ needs.

Same goes for Odom to the Bay Area. Golden State’s search for a big man has rivaled Pee Wee Herman’s search for his bike. Odom would be a dynamic offensive presence in the paint and would make life much easier for Curry and Thompson on the outside. Plus, Oakland may be close enough that Khloe Kardashian wouldn’t grouse about the deal messing up the couple’s reality show.

4. Steve Nash For Brandon Roy – For Steve Nash, getting traded would be akin to getting a pardon. It would be an unpopular move with the fans since Nash is one of the most beloved Suns of all-time, but he’s done his time and taken that team as far as he can. It would be a fitting gesture for management to give him another shot at a championship run, especially now that his BFF Dirk Nowitzki has a title. With Roy, his steadily increasing salary looks even bigger when placed next to his steadily increasing inability to stay healthy.

Making the deal would give the Blazers an up-tempo floor leader able to distribute to the athletic likes of LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace inside. Nash’s penetration can open things on the perimeter for Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum. Phoenix gets a wing player that can take the place of the departed Jason Richardson. If the Suns can re-sign Aaron Brooks, he teams up with Roy, Vince Carter and Channing Frye as a wide open offensive quartet. As for Roy’s knee problems, well…maybe it’s the dry heat, maybe it’s the training staff, but they just do a good job with knee injury rehabs in the desert. See: Hill, Grant.

3. Tony Parker for Chris Paul – Tony Parker‘s comments about the Spurs being finished were shocking. Not just because some still believe that they may have another run left in the up-for-grabs Western Conference. But also because guys from San Antonio just don’t pop off like that. So if Parker doesn’t want to be there anymore, I’m sure the Spurs can oblige him and there will likely be plenty of takers.

Say, for instance, New Orleans. The countdown clock is ticking on Chris Paul in the Big Easy and with it looking like David West won’t be back, it’s nearly impossible to imagine CP3 wanting to stay. In reality, it’s hard to envision two teams in the same division making a swap like this, but it would give New Orleans a similar-style point guard while San Antonio gets an upgrade while showing Parker how the other half of the league lives – provided they’re actually that vindictive.

2. Dwight Howard for James Harden, Kendrick Perkins & Nate Robinson – If you think the people in New Orleans hear the clock ticking for Chris Paul, the folks in Orlando must be hearing Big Ben chime when it comes to Dwight Howard. Since Superman has said he plans to test free agency, it only makes sense for general manager Otis Smith to start looking for the best deals he can get right now. With Jason Richardson as a free agent, Harden can do many of the same things, but at a much cheaper price. Perkins isn’t Howard, but he can help defend and rebound in the paint as well as score when necessary to help prevent double-teaming on Orlando’s shooters. Robinson’s expiring contract is a bonus for the Magic. Unless they want another Jameer Nelson-type…except for the passing, that is.

For the Thunder, the upside of adding Howard is a no-brainer. A Howard-Durant-Westbrook-Ibaka-Green starting lineup have to be considered an early favorite to represent the West in the NBA Finals and allows Scott Brooks to bring Thabo Sefolosha off the bench. The biggest question for OKC is whether Howard would be interested in signing a free agent deal with the team and who would have be let go to make the salaries work. It likely means the end of Nazr Mohammed in Oklahoma City.

1. David Stern & Billy Hunter for Ari Gold – But…none of these deals can happen as long as the league is locked out and much of that falls on the shoulders of Stern and Hunter. Then again, those two have been like cats and dogs (or Lakers and Celtics, if you prefer) for the better part of their respective tenures. Under Stern’s watch, 22 of 30 teams are crying poverty while Hunter has danced around the issue of whether he’ll take a pay cut during the lockout, something that will earn him some sideways looks from his constituents. How to solve it? Get superagent to the stars Ari Gold on the case. After all, he took Vincent Chase from the neighborhoods of Queens to the pinnacle of Hollywood. He’s just as arrogant and petulant as Stern can be and gives better quotes than Hunter. Besides, with all of the acrimony that’s just beginning with this work stoppage, someone needs to be there to tell both sides to “hug it out”.

For a team that epitomizes Hollywood, it was an ending that no producer in Tinseltown would have green-lit. The two-time defending champs looking to send their Hall of Fame coach into retirement with an unprecedented fourth three-peat instead looked old, slow and utterly frustrated against a team that most of the basketball world presumed wouldn’t be much of an obstacle.

Instead, the Los Angeles Lakers next season starts with an early vacation, their year ending in May for the first time since 2007 when they were bounced in the first round by the Phoenix Suns. For the Laker franchise and fanbase, it’s a bit like driving to Wally World only to find the gates padlocked. So before this bitter pill has had a chance to make it all the way down the collective gullet of Lakers fans, it seems like the perfect time to wonder “what now”?

What to do about Pau Gasol who drew the most fan ire of any Laker for his shrinking violet performance in the postseason? What sort of additional help can the organization find for Kobe Bryant – who is still one of the league’s most dangerous players, but who is soon to be 33 years old and is showing signs of accumulated injury? Perhaps most importantly, who will lead this team after the departure of the game’s greatest coach who was a bigger star than most of the men he coached?

Who fills Phil’s shoes?

The head of the bench is probably the best place to start with the Lakers. It’s probably also the most complicated riddle to try and solve. The best laid plans of owner Jerry Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak had the team winning its third straight title with Phil Jackson riding off into the sunset with his 12^th championship before handing the reins over to Brian Shaw.

Shaw is still considered by some to be the front-runner for the job and would undoubtedly have the support of Bryant since the two played together for four seasons. But there is a question as to whether ownership wants to continue in The Way of the Triangle. Immediately after the Game Four loss to Dallas, no one in the Laker hierarchy was willing to say much about who would sit atop Jackson’s high-chair next season, but sources in the organization told ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande that the search was “wide open”.

One of the knocks against Jackson (and there weren’t many) was that he took

teams with extraordinary talent and won championships. It’s hard to argue against the fact that Phil coached some of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen, but maybe his greatest strength was the ability to mesh personalities and absorb distractions while focusing a group on a common goal. It’s how he got the Jordanaires to fall in line behind Michael’s notoriously Type A personality. It’s how he paired a veteran Shaquille O’Neal with a young, hungry and ornery Kobe Bryant to win three titles.

It’s a skill that can’t be overlooked, especially in a town like Los Angeles where distractions are as numerous as paparazzi cameras. That skill is the reason Jackson presided over the Lakers’ greatest run of success since Pat Riley took his act to Wall Street. It’s also something that may give Shaw the inside track to the gig. Whoever takes over the job is going to have to be able to stand up to Kobe Bryant who will need to start deferring to teammates a little more frequently in the future. Bryant would probably listen to Shaw more than any other new coach.

Shaw may also be the pick because this team was built to run the triangle offense. Many of the Lakers’ offensive problems stemmed from them getting away from running that offense. It’s been common in the last couple of seasons to see a crabby Kobe forsake the rest of the guys on the floor and take matters into his own hands, with varying degrees of success. Of course for the triangle to work, you need shooters who can knock down jumpers from deep. It didn’t help that as a group, the Lakers failed to be any sort of threat shooting the ball from the perimeter against the Mavericks. There is no universe in which shooting 19.7% from three-point range is going to get it done. Yet no matter how much the Busses may want to scrap Tex Winter’s iconic offense…

The roster is the roster

As is normal with teams that fall short of expectations, fans and media promptly put on their hard hats and talked about blowing things up. That’s much easier said than done. First off, after everyone releases the panic button, they’ll remember that Los Angeles won 57 games, ran away with the Pacific Division and earned the second seed in the West. Certainly after the past two seasons, anything less than a parade down Figueroa Street in early June was going to be looked at as failure. But let’s slow down before we completely write this group off.

The Lakers came blazing out of the gates this season, firing off to a 13-5 start thanks in large part to the play of Pau Gasol. In the first 18 games of the season, the Spaniard looked like a way-too-early MVP candidate, averaging 21.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Later in the year, it was L.A.’s other big man, Andrew Bynum taking control. As the Lake Show rattled off 17 wins in their first 18 games after the All-Star Break, Bynum morphed into the game-changing center so many people thought he could be, dominating the paint with 10.8 ppg and 10.6 rpg.

Unfortunately for Laker fans, they’ll mostly remember Gasol being colder than a bowl of gazpacho against Dallas while Bynum’s legacy from the 2011 postseason will be his Dr. Phil impersonation when talking about the team’s “trust issues”.

Secondly, Los Angeles carried $91.646 million in salary for the 2010-11 season – light years above the cap number that had been set at $58.044 million and still a significant amount above the luxury tax threshold of $70.307 million. That’s not going to get much better next season. The Lakers already have a guaranteed $88.623 million in contracts for next year – and that’s without Shannon Brown and Matt Barnes picking up their player options for another combined $4.3 million.

The only player on the roster with any significant trade value is the 23-year old Bynum. He could help bring the point guard that the team so badly needs after Derek Fisher and Steve Blake looked like the cones in a J.J. Barea dribbling clinic. Except that injuries have been the biggest story of his young career. In six seasons, Bynum has played more than 65 games just once, when he appeared in a complete 82 games back in ’06-07.

What it all adds up to is…

Dwight Howard‘s not walking through that door

In the summer of 1996, the Lakers were coming off a first-round playoff loss to the Houston Rockets. Their next move was to convince Superman (Shaquille O’Neal) to leave Smallville (Orlando) for Metropolis (Los Angeles). At the same time, the team traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the draft rights to a heralded, but unproven high schooler named Kobe Bryant. Thus began the Lake Show’s return to primetime.

Fifteen years later, Laker fans are hoping for a showing of Superman II, this time starring Dwight Howard. The rumblings of trying to convince Howard to switch coasts has only gotten louder after L.A.’s bigs played so small against Dallas. But there’s still one more year left on Howard’s contract in Orlando and even with Jerry Buss’ deep pockets, it may not be that easy getting Howard to Southern California.

When Howard becomes a free agent after the 2011-12 season, the Lakers will still have $56.949 million tied up in guaranteed deals for Bryant, Gasol, Blake and Luke Walton; there’s another $24.673 million in team options for Bynum and Lamar Odom and still another $10.659 million in player options for Ron Artest and Derek Fisher. With a lockout hanging over everyone’s head, it’s likely that the salary cap and contract structures will look vastly different when the league tips off again. Will the Lakers even be able to fit Howard under that new umbrella? If they wanted to try, how much salary would they have to gut from the roster to open up space?

Better yet, is Howard really interested in coming to Los Angeles? Like Shaq, Howard is a big, engaging personality with a 10,000-watt smile that TV and movie producers would love to work with. But is he really okay with following the same path that O’Neal did? Plus, in today’s NBA, superstars have turned into part-time recruiters, trying to woo their fellow superstars to form another version of the Big Three. Why go to Los Angeles and play with an aging Kobe when you can convince Deron Williams and David West to come to Orlando?

Is it all over for the Lakers? By no means. Unless someone in the Pacific Division makes a major overhaul during the summer, the Lakers next season still appears head and shoulders above their competition. They’re still a playoff team with enough talent to make a run. However, if the standard is a championship or three (and in Los Angeles, it often is), then the curtain has definitely dropped on this edition of the Lake Show.

With the regular season is over, and the real season about to begin, the Chasing 23 writing team will be revealing their 2011 NBA Awards picks in advance of the actual announcement.

 First up: Defensive Player Of The Year.

THE NBA REALIST: Dwight Howard

Don’t you mean the “There Are No Longer Any Great Defensive Big-Men In The NBA Anymore” award?

Since the Defensive Player of the Year award began in 1983, only 7 out of 28 recipients have been non-bigs which demonstrates the direction that the media typically likes to vote. Moreover, in years past, voters could choose from greats such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and David Robinson. However, in the era of small-ball , the new Defensive 3-second rule has opened up the paint, Centers want to play like Guards, and shot blocking has all but disappeared. The great defensive bigs are no more. Dwight Howard has been fantastic and is certainly worthy of this award, but the fact remains that he is the only game in town. Howard wins by default – and there isn’t even a close second.

Honorable Mention: Andre Iguodala

BROWN MAMBA: Dwight Howard:

It’s hard to believe that the NBA’s reigning Superman is only 25 years old and in his 7th season, but he has clearly cemented his place as one of the great defensive players of this generation. The 2010-11 campaign only served to reinforce this notion, as Howard finished with a freakish defensive line (14rpg/2.4bpg/1.3spg) while impacting the vast majority of Magic defensive possessions . Howard did all of this while playing with a collection of some of the worst defensive players in the NBA (yes you, Gilbert Arenas and Helo Turkoglu). Andrew Bogut, is my somewhat distant runner-up, posting respectable stats (11.1rpg/2.6bpg/0.7spg) on a better-than-expected Bucks defensive squad.

DAVE SHERIDAN: Dwight Howard

Let’s keep the suspense to a minimum and acknowledge that Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is the landslide winner of this prestigious award, which has been given to the likes of Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Unlike the aforementioned recipients, Dwight Howard does possess an offensive game that has enabled Sheridan’s Defensive Player of the Year to average 23.0 ppg.

Howard blocks shots (2.4 per game) and grabs rebounds (14.1 rpg) at prolific levels, but let’s examine the Magic’s defensive efficiency rating, which measures the amount of points a team gives up per 100 possessions. Orlando is ranked third in the NBA, and the Magic clearly do not possess the collective defensive talent showcased by the Bulls, Celtics or Heat.

Orlando’s fourth place finish, in the Eastern Conference, is testament to Howard’s ability to anchor a defense that has been saddled with defensive liabilities such as Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. (Surprisingly, Hedo Turkoglu ranks as a pretty good defender.)

Orlando’s Superman leaps tall buildings, swats shots, has trouble at the free-throw line, gets nailed with a prodigious amount of technical fouls, isn’t best buddies with Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal or Kevin Garnett, but is unquestionably the best defensive player in the game.

Did You Know?: Since the NBA Defensive Player of the Year originated in 1983, only two players born outside of the United States have captured the award. Those two players would be Dikembe Mutombo (Zaire which is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).

Honorable Mention: Andrew Bogut, Tyson Chandler, Joakim Noah

MARCAS GRANT: Dwight Howard

His defensive numbers are strong enough by themselves to win him the award for the third straight season, averaging more than 14 rebounds and nearly 2.5 blocks per game. When you factor in that Howard is carrying an even larger portion of the offense (he’s averaging career highs in shots and points per game), his defensive contributions become that much more impressive.

E-DOG: Dwight Howard

Andre Iguodala was the best perimeter defender in the league this year, but Howard gets the nod for single-handedly keeping Orlando’s team defense respectable while being surrounded by semi-sieves or sieves everywhere else in the lineup. Imagine if he could learn to avoid racking up techs. This would be his 3rd consecutive DPOY award, and considering that he’s still just 25, I think it’s safe to say that he will soon own more of these than anyone else.

Honorable Mention: Andre Iguodala

Dwight Howard: 5 votes.

I love the NBA.

And I love Porn.

That’s probably why I love Stan Van Gundy – he brings together the best of both worlds.

The NBA’s version of Ron Jeremy was at it again this week, this time artfully criticizing the media’s premature awarding of the MVP to Derrick Rose, several games prior to the conclusion of the regular season, while openly campaigning for Dwight Howard for MVP. And through the course of his appeal, Van Gundy actually raised a very interesting point:

“Look, and I’ve said this before, to me, with his rebounding his scoring and his defense, I don’t think there’s anybody that impacts as many possessions in a game as Dwight does. I think Derrick Rose has been great. I’ll have no problem at all if Derrick Rose wins the MVP. They’ve got the best record in the East, he’s been clearly their leader. You can make a great case for him. I think it’s a hard choice to make, he’s been great. But, I still don’t think anyone impacts as many possessions a game as Dwight does.

For the record, my vote at this stage of the season goes to Derrick Rose. But if you think about it, Stan Van makes a pretty interesting case.

I understand that league voters have historically valued winning above all else when selecting the season’s MVP. They have also used criteria such as Best Player in the League, Most Dominant Player in the League, Player that does the Most with the Least, Alpha Dog on the Team with the Best Record, America’s Sweetheart, and even “I’m Tired of Giving the Award to the Player that actually Deserves it”.

However, to Stan Van’s point, one criteria that has never really been used is that of the player that  impacts the most possessions on both sides of the court. And in an era where defense wins championships, shouldn’t this be given more consideration? After all, isn’t a player’s ability to prevent points just as valuable as their ability to generate points? Moreover, isn’t a shot block that prevents 2 points just as mathematically effective as a layup that scores 2 points? If we work off this logic, Stan Van is right – no player in the NBA impacts more overall possessions on both sides of the floor than Dwight Howard. Through 69 games, Howard is averaging 23.1 points, 60.2% FG, 14.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game, while serving as both Orlando’s primary offensive facilitator as well as the league’s most dominant defensive force. If “impacting possessions” was an actual and valued criteria, the argument could be made that Howard would runaway with the MVP award at season’s end.

Another point of interest – had impacting possessions actually garnered more attention amongst MVP voters in the past, it might have actually

changed the course of the award’s history. In 1993, Charles Barkley won the MVP, but the runner up, Hakeem Olajuwon, impacted far more possessions on both sides of the floor because of his defensive superiority. The same could be said about Tim Duncan in 2001 when he was runner up to Allen Iverson, or Shaq in 2005 instead of Steve Nash, or even Kobe in 2007 instead of Dirk Nowitzki. Would the gap have been minimized or possibly erased had impacting possessions been taken into account?

I recognize that the MVP award can mean different things to a different voters, but the important takeaway from Stan Van’s comments is that voters need to begin incorporating defensive impact, and impact per possession, as part of their overall evaluation criteria when determining the MVP. In the interim, we’ll sit tight and wait to see what the NBA’s “Hedgehog” has up his sleeve next.