Golden State Warriors Leading Dwight Howard Sweepstakes
By Mike Dyce
The three contenders to win Dwight Howard services for a long time were considered to be the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. The Golden State Warriors have quietly crept in as a favorite according to a report from Marc Stein and Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN.
While Dwight ignored Kobe Bryant’s challenge to learn to be a champion as his apprentice, Golden State’s offer made an ‘impression’ on the center.
"The Rockets and the Mavericks, in that order, have been generally regarded as the biggest threats to steal away Howard, but the Warriors have increasingly been tipped by sources close to the process as a threat coming up fast on the outside. That’s despite the Warriors’ apparent salary-cap limitations and a sentiment stemming largely from a Monday sitdown that, as ESPN.com later reported, made an undeniable “impression” on Howard."
Golden State sneaking in and winning would be an incredible dark horse story. It’s a smaller market, and a team with a lack of success but a solid fan base. They’re recent moves in an attempt to clear salary cap indicates that the Warriors maybe be having discussions with Howard recently and could be preparing for the big man to announce his intentions to sign with the club.
"ESPN.com reported Thursday the Warriors had begun aggressively trying to trade away the expiring contracts of Andrew Bogut ($14 million), Richard Jefferson ($11 million) and Andris Biedrins ($9 million). The plan was conceived in the longshot hope that they could clear sufficient salary-cap space to sign Howard outright without needing to sell the Lakers on a complicated sign-and-trade arrangement.Hall of Fame writer Peter Vecsey, in the wake of ESPN.com’s story about the Warriors’ feverish attempts to create cap space, reported via his Twitter feed Thursday night that Golden State officials do believe that they have found trade destinations for Bogut, Jefferson and Biedrins should Howard choose Golden State and the Lakers refuse to engage them in sign-and-trade talks."
Their actions seem to indicate they might have landed 2013’s biggest free agent.