Dwight Howard‘s risks have become greater than his potential reward, writes Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW. Sefko advises the Mavericks against pursuing Howard, whom they tried to get in free agency nearly three seasons ago. He notes that the league’s trend remains toward smaller and more athletic centers, and even among traditional big men, Howard is falling behind DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. With the Rockets going through a disappointing season and Howard expected to opt out of his contract this summer, Houston’s front office has reportedly explored possible deals before next week’s deadline. Sefko notes that former teammate Chandler Parsons is likely to recruit Howard, but adds that Parsons can also opt out this summer, so his future in Dallas isn’t certain.
There’s more news from the Southwest Division:
- The Rockets need to make a deal before the deadline to shake up their chemistry, argues Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. After reaching the Western Conference finals last season, Houston stumbled into this year’s All-Star break at 27-28 and in ninth place in the conference. “We’re generally an active team,” GM Daryl Morey said of the trade deadline. “I mean we won’t force anything. They’re not many windows where you get a chance to upgrade your team. We’ll have to look at it very closely.”
- Pelicans center Anthony Davis doesn’t want to be one of those NBA stars who has a strong say in personnel moves, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “I trust our organization,” Davis said. “Whatever they decide to do, of course they’re going to make sure I’m involved with it. I don’t go out [and say] ‘Let’s do this, let’s do that.’ I try to let them handle that and they come to me, and we all sit down collectively and try to figure out what’s the best move.”
- Missing the playoffs, which is a possibility for the Grizzlies in the wake of Marc Gasol‘s injury, would also affect the organization on draft day, according to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Memphis sent this year’s first-round pick to Cleveland in 2013 along with Marreese Speights in a salary-shedding deal. Denver currently owns the rights to the pick, thanks to the Timofey Mozgov trade, but it’s protected for both the top five selections and spots 15-30. The Grizzlies would keep the pick if they make the playoffs but likely have to give it up if they fall short of the postseason.
Do people even check facts any more? @TimBontemps writes and article that says that the Grizzlies should lose and miss the playoffs for a lottery pick b/c “they’ve traded away the pick that is lottery protected” but this is false. The pick is top 5 and 15-30 protected. If they miss the playoffs odds are the pick goes to Denver so they need to make the playoffs to keep the pick or get very lucky with the ping-pong balls to land a top 5 pick.