In July 2013, the biggest free agent prize on the market was Dwight Howard, the then 27-year old center who hated life on the Lakers with overly-aggressive Kobe Bryant.
The Dallas Mavericks were in the mix for Howard, his hometown Atlanta Hawks were a longshot, and the Golden State Warriors were a sleeper. The Warriors – who had just given the Spurs all they could handle in the 2nd round of the playoffs before bowing out – were a promising young team, but thin in the middle because Andrew Bogut couldn’t stay healthy.
Here’s what Warriors owner Joe Lacob told the Sporting News in 2013 about their pursuit of Howard:
But we would not have gone after him if we didn’t think we had a chance or that it made sense. … We were a lot closer than people realize to perhaps that actually happening, (Howard) coming here. I think that is a testament to what is happening here. He was affected by the presentation that he saw by our ownership and our management.”
As soon as Howard picked the Rockets – wonder if he regrets that decision, 2.5 years later, now that he’s looking to get traded because he’s opting out of Houston this summer – the Warriors made an interesting move: They signed Andre Iguodala. I loved the move. I wrote it made them a title contender. I wasn’t the only one who had that sentiment.
The NBA was in the embryonic stages of shifting to a 3-point heavy league. (In 2012-2013, 12 teams attempted 20 or more 3-pointers per game, with only two making 10 or more 3’s a night. This season? Twenty four teams attempt 20+ 3-pointers per game, and five are making 10 or more per game.)
Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were all in place and Golden State improved from 47 wins to 51, but they were eliminated in the first round in 2015 in seven games by the Clippers.
After the season, the Warriors surprised many by dumping coach Mark Jackson for first-time coach Steve Kerr, but it worked, because he was the last piece to the puzzle: Kerr turned Draymond Green into an unstoppable force.
Since missing out on Howard and landing Iguodala – and who can forget the Warriors wisely passing on the chance to acquire Kevin Love in exchange for Thompson despite the media pushing for it because they loved Love’s stats on Minnesota? – the Warriors have become historically good.
The Rockets? One could argue they got lucky to reach the Western Conference Finals last year after the Clipper wasted a 3-1 series lead. Seven months after that, they’ve got a new coach, and they’re trying to trade their 2nd best player.
Howard’s stock is cratering. Despite taking the Magic to the Finals in Orlando forever ago, he’s never seemed to take basketball seriously, and never really developed much of a low-post game. Injuries have been a problem the last few years, and he’s a shell of the 20-point, 14-rebound, defensive force he used to be.
Is anyone even offering a 1st round pick for a declining 7-footer who turns 31 in December?
from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/20rlHW0
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