Just thought I'd put this one out there and see what others thought. I'm not totally sure I would do this trade. But it should does seem like Horford and Howard would make a great pair.
Now we wouldn't be giving up JUST the Nets pick in the deal I've drawn up. Here's what I propose:
Boston Trades: 2016 Nets 1st, 2016 C's 1st, Amir Johnson, David Lee, James Young and Tyler Zeller
Boston Receives: Al Horford, Dwight Howard
Atlanta Trades: Al Horford, Jeff Teague
Atlanta Receives: 2016 Nets 1st, Amir Johnson, James Young
Houston Trades: Dwight Howard
Houston Receives: Jeff Teague, 2016 Celtics 1st, David Lee, Tyler Zeller
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ztc7vlvI think consensus says you don't give up the Nets pick for one of these players. But would you give it up for both?
Here is what are team would look like going into the playoffs:
Thomas / Smart
Bradley / Turner
Crowder / Jerebko
Horford / Olynyk
Howard / Sullinger
That is quite the 10 man rotation.
Danny Ainge doesn't want to mortgage the future with a win-now trade. But this seems like a wonderful way to consolidate some assets and trim the fat off the roster.
And can you really say we're mortgaging the future when we'll still have the maverick's pick and two more (likely lottery) Nets picks coming down the road?
This could be the one win-now trade that makes sense.