He is locked up at a reasonable price, could we trade for him and still have max space next year?
Bos send: Crowder,Amir,Zellar, KO, bos 18
Atl sends : Howard
IT. Rozier
AB Smart
Hayward. Brown
Horford Nets 17
Howard. Zicic
First, I am not sure about pairing Horford with Howard.
Second, we are giving up way too much: three bigs (Zeller, Amir, Kelly), a great contract (Crowder), and a lottery (assuming the trade goes through) pick.
PS According to the OP, by trading for Howard, we magically get Hayward too. OK...
PPS I just saw saltlover's posts, which are always interesting to read. He is right that Howard's numbers have improved this season. But so has Houston after he left...
Haha, thanks. I just think he was a terrible fit in Houston. Rather than his game dramatically declining, as was the popular narrative, he's really been the same player. I don't really attribute Atlanta's non-elite play to him either. They're on a 46-win pace, having replaced Horford with Dwight, Teague with nobody, and good Kent Bazemore with bad Kent Bazemore.
A lot of people didn't like that Dwight forced his way out of Orlando, and then didn't stick with the Lakers once he realized what a jerk Kobe Bryant was. But if we want this team to not get bullied by Tristan Thompson and Jonas Valuncianas, Dwight is the guy who can solve that, not Paul Milsap, and certainly not Jimmy Butler. Our number one weakness is defensive rebounding -- Howard is 6th in the league in DREB%. He's first in OREB%. He's sixth in Defensive rating. He'll sure up the defense because our guards can go back to focusing on making guys miss shots, and not focus on getting the rebound as well. He's limited offensively, but if the defense doesn't successfully deny him the ball near the basket, its two points.
He's signed for two more years at below max numbers, which will help the team keep its guards together. He's played in at least 70 games 3 of the last 4 years, and is on pace to do so again. He generally averages 30 minutes a game. Injuries aren't a major concern.
I wouldn't go overboard for trading for him (no Brooklyn pick this year or maybe next year) but he fills our team needs better than Milsap, and is not an expiring like Milsap. He can play next to Horford in a two big lineup, or surrounded by four shooters. I'm not sure he'd be in my close-out-the-game lineup due to the tendency for teams to go small at the end, but that's okay.
If Horford or IT said "No, he's a jerk, don't bring him here", then fine, I wouldn't be down with that. But as I've never heard that, I'm in. Sure I'd prefer Cousins, but I won't fall for being the enemy of the perfect.