Chicago Bulls' attempt to acquire Dwight Howard never made sense – NBA Opinion
The Los Angeles Lakers just ended what became to be known as the Dwightmare saga, by acquiring Howard through a blockbuster four team trade that involved the Lakers, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers.
But before the Lakers finally reached an agreement on a complicated deal that will now see Howard play alongside Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash next season, the Magic were involved in trade discussions with the Chicago Bulls for the services of Howard.
The Bulls front office held discussions with former Magic General Manager Otis Smith regarding a possible deal for Howard, and kept the line of communications open when Smith was fired and Rob Hennigan took over as the new General Manager. However, there were too many complications in the process, and the Bulls failed to provide the Magic with what they were looking for.
Orlando GM Hennigan had made it clear since coming into front office that he was looking to completely rebuild the Magic franchise, and wanted young and cheap players whom he could develop or later trade. He was also looking for draft picks, and a whole bunch of them. So it was evident that the Bulls would not be able to reach a deal with the Magic.
The Bulls were not going to send All Star MVP calibre point guard Derrick Rose to the Magic. He is the face of the franchise and sending him over finishes the whole point of the trade. Carlos Boozer is a liability with his huge contract and after his last two seasons, everyone in the NBA knows it.
That left Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and draft picks as the only trading chips for the Bulls. Of these players, Noah and Deng are in way no way inexpensive. Plus, they are both currently recovering from injuries, Noah with an ankle injury and Deng with an injury to the wrist and it is unclear how they recover from injury and what their status will be next season. Hence, the Bulls never gave the Magic an offer that would grab their attention.
The Bulls themselves were also not sure of the deal, as they were unable to predict what Howard was feeling at the time and would he want to be a part of the organization long term. Ever since Howard declared that he was looking for a new home, he had a small list of possible destinations. The Brooklyn Nets were on the top of that list and the Chicago Bulls were not on that list at all. The Lakers entered that list after Howard realized that a deal was possible, as nobody could have thought that the Lakers would be able to pull this deal off.
Plus, Howard is not sure about his future and maintained throughout the summer that he would not sign a contract extension with any team that he is traded to, and would instead become a free agent next summer. The Lakers can bear that risk and the uncertainty that comes with it, as they already have a championship contending team compiled, and Howard is just the icing on the cake.
The Bulls, however, will be playing much of next season without Rose as he recovers from ACL injury. In such a predicament, there was a possibility that Howard would have left the Bulls next summer, leaving them without a roster to pair around Rose.
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