It was supposed to be over when Dwight Howard got traded to the Lakers. But the speculation over where Howard will ultimately wind up still hasn’t ceased.Today’s top story discusses the prospect of Howard reuniting with his AAU teammate, Josh Smith.
Where? That is up to you, the reader, to figure out.
There’s lots of NBA news below, but in case you missed it, Tony Parker is out for about a month with a sprained ankle. Also, you should read this column from Jan Hubbard if you’re interested in who will be the next head coach for Team USA. Hubb says it should be Gregg Popovich, not Doc Rivers or Doug Collins.
Now let’s get to the latest news from around the NBA.
- Here’s some comments Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News got from Howard, which you can read as much or as little into as you’d like (specifically the “unfortunately”): “The bond between Lakers center Dwight Howard and Hawks forward Josh Smith goes back to their days growing up together in Atlanta and teaming up on the same AAU team. With the Lakers (29-30) hosting the Atlanta Hawks (33-23) on Sunday at Staples Center, Howard conceding the two long-time friends have repeatedly talked about reliving those days and teaming up together. ‘We have a couple of times,’ Howard said. ‘But unfortunately that hasn’t happened.’ “
- Speaking of Smith, here’s a bit from Marc Stein’s latest Weekend Dime about the Hawks forward: “The Hawks wanted to trade Josh Smith to Milwaukee on deadline day. They fully expected to, frankly. But Atlanta, from the start, wanted Monta Ellis back from Milwaukee. The only Buck with long-term money they were willing to take back instead, according to sources close to the process, was Ersan Ilyasova. Sources say Milwaukee, however, was not willing to put Ellis or Ilyasova into the deal. Which left the Hawks with two choices: Trade Smith to Milwaukee for a package featuring Beno Udrih’s expiring contract paired with forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute … or keep Smith beyond the deadline and risk seeing him walk away from Atlanta in the summertime without compensation. The Hawks opted for the latter, figuring that the options they’ll still have with Smith — whether that means re-signing him, working with him on a sign-and-trade or even losing him outright — all trump the idea of cutting into future salary-cap space by acquiring Mbah a Moute and the nearly $9 million left on his contract over the next two seasons.”
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