The Dwight Howard circus continues to rattle on until the the NBA trade deadline. One day Orlando are not trading him, the next they’ve received an offer worth considering, and on another day he wants to be a free agent to form a Triple D team with Dirk and Deron in Dallas.

One rumour that has been cropping up in recent times is that my Warriors are interested in swinging a trade. Dwight has all but come out and clearly stated that he won’t sign an extension with Golden State, meaning that any deal would most likely be a temporary rental unless he changed his mind upon arriving in the Bay. The Magic are believed to be interested in Monta Ellis but would want a fair bit more back for Dwight.

Assuming we don’t get a third team involved, I worked out this deal. It can only happen if we buy out Kwame Brown (not sure what injured player rules are but I think it’s possible since he had a one year contract) but here it is:

Golden State gets: Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon.
Orlando gets: Monta Ellis, David Lee, Klay Thompson.

And you know what? If that deal was possible, I would do it in a New York second.

Anyone who wouldn’t doesn’t understand the mentality of a Golden State fan. I would argue that no fanbase has suffered quite as much as we did. The Clippers don’t count because they had no fans other than Clipper Darrell B.B. (Before Blake) to suffer.

Let me remind y’all in case you’ve forgotten. We have had one playoff season and two winning seasons in eighteen years. An entire generation of GSW fans – including myself – has one collective basketball memory that we would consider good. (Let’s also not forget that the period between the 1975 title and the early-90s Run-TMC era was pretty miserable itself).

During those eighteen years, if something could go wrong for the franchise it did. Bad drafts, poor coaching, players feuding with coaches (Sprewell) and management (C-Webb), ownership incompetence…you name it, we can cite it. The only thing that didn’t change was that the fans never stopped turning out and caring.

From the moment Joe Lacob and his team bought the franchise they’ve made it known that they want to build a winner. Their off-court moves have generally been shrewd but the on-court product has flopped because we have neither a superstar or a group of complimentary players strong enough to make up for it. As much as I love Stephen Curry and Monta – they’re second or third options on a playoff team. Lacob and co. seem to realise this, hence the pursuit for Dwight.

If Dwight Howard came to Golden State, even if just for a few months – he gives this franchise and the fans hope. Hope is something we haven’t had in 18 years and something I’ve never really had for this team, except at the peak of the Baron days. He is one of the few players in the league (there’s Dwight, LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Wade…and that’s about it) who makes your team an instant contender. Do I think we can win a title this year with Dwight? No, but at least we’ll be able to make a real run and shake things up a bit.

I would also maintain some hope that he would stay. As I’ve been saying throughout this article, when the Oracle is shaking the only arena in the league that can be talked about in the same breath is Madison Square Garden. The moment Dwight Howard steps onto the court in a Warriors jersey he will be revered and the roof will blow out. Warriors fans won’t care if he’s there for two months or twelve years. D12 has always struck me as a LeBron type – a guy who needs to feel loved and wanted wherever he goes. That plus California weather (OK the Bay isn’t LA but it’s better than New York), the fifth largest media market in America to himself and playing off Stephen Curry may be enough to sway him to stay.

If he doesn’t, well then we get the next best thing. Having given up our two biggest contracts for Dwight, we can then start the full rebuild we’ve needed for God knows how long.

Do I truly think this can happen? God no. I’m too used to hearing big talk from the front office – whoever it may be – to have any real belief. But that glimmer of hope exists. And sometimes that’s all you need.

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