It’s likely futile, but Lakers reportedly talking Howard again
Jul 17, 2012, 1:46 PM EDT
Getty Images We’ve seen this movie before. I’m not sure why it would end differently this time, but we’re seeing it again.
The Lakers are back making a Dwight Howard push, according to Marc Spears at Yahoo Sports.
Lakers pushing hard to land Magic center Dwight Howard & meeting with Magic today, sources tell Y! LAL wants DH contract extension commitment… Rockets currently do not have a meeting set up with the Magic in regards to landing Dwight Howard, source tells Y! Sports.
The buzz around Summer League has been that nothing was close with Howard to anywhere, that the Magic had pulled back.
Until the Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik situations are resolved, the Rockets don’t know exactly what they can offer. They have to sit on the sidelines.
The Lakers know exactly what they can offer, the same thing they have offered from the start — Andrew Bynum (and other parts to make it all fit). How the Lakers get a deal done without a third team to take on Jason Richardson’s contract, and how they get enough picks to make Orlando happy, are other topics, but the Lakers have a piece in Bynum that will get the Magic talking.
But that’s never been the problem with sending Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles, the problem is getting the principle players involved to agree.
The Lakers have wanted a commitment from Howard that he would re-sign with them after the season. (Howard, nor any other free agent, is going to sign an extension under the new CBA, because they get fewer years and less guaranteed money than becoming a free agent and re-signing with the same team. As Deron Williams did in Brooklyn.)
Howard has said he will not re-sign with the Lakers. He also has wanted to be the star of the team and the Lakers are Kobe’s team, with Steve Nash and Pau Gasol both still there taking up a lot of shots. Is Howard going to sign on for that?
On the flip side, Orlando is going to want a commitment from Bynum, who also is a free agent next summer. And he has given no indication he would re-sign there (other than he wants a big payday and they can provide it). The Magic are not moving Howard without a commitment from Bynum, they are not trading one big man in the last year of his deal and who wants out for another.
I’m not sure how the movie ends differently this time unless Howard and Bynum change their stances. But the talks seem to be on again.
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MIAMI — For all intents and purposes, the game was over. Except that it wasn’t. The Heat trailed Game 6 of the Finals by five with under 30 seconds to play, and fans in Miami began streaming for the exits. Arena staffers in yellow shirts lined the baselines and the court across from the team…
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Doc Rivers, Celtics’ GM Ainge meet Wednesday to discuss what’s next
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AP
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AP
PBT’s own Brett Pollakoff tweeted this out when the Heat were down 5 with: 28 seconds left and the Heat had called a timeout. “Fans in Miami heading for the exits.” Thousands of them. Not anywhere near a majority, but enough to reinforce the stereotype. Plenty (again, far from all) fans in Miami fit the…
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Gregg Popovich is the best coach in basketball right now. One of the best of all time. He has four rings and built a culture in San Antonio that has them in NBA Finals 14 years apart and with consistent 50+ win seasons in between. But he is not perfect. He made a couple decisions…
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AP
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LeBron James gets another triple-double, now favorite for Finals MVP
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You’ll have to excuses ESPN for not mentioning LeBron James achieving a triple-double during the Heat’s 103-100 win over the Spurs until Game 6 ended. LeBron grabbed his 10th rebound – capping a 32-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound, three-steal game – on Chris Bosh’s block of Tony Parker’s jumper with 31 seconds left, setting off a whirlwind…
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Reuters
At shootaround on Tuesday before Game 6, Chris Bosh said that hot shooting Spur Danny Green wasn’t going to get clean looks at threes. Then, with the Spurs having one last shot in overtime to tie the game, Bosh made sure his words were good by blocking a Green desperation three to tie the game.…
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‘Devastated’ Manu Ginobili says he has no clue how Spurs will re-energize for Game 7
Jun 19, 2013, 3:29 AM EDT
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MIAMI — After suffering a brutal Game 6 loss that the Spurs had every reason to believe would turn out in their favor, one of the team’s key veterans wasn’t exactly optimistic that they’ll find a way to bounce back emotionally in time for Thursday’s Game 7. Manu Ginobili was the Game 5 hero for…
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Spurs execution fails them when it matters most. Can they get it back for Game 7?
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For three quarters of Game 6, as it has been for much of the NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs execution was just too much for the Heat to handle — the Spurs shot 50 percent, they played smart defense, they moved the ball, Tim Duncan was playing like a man possessed with 30 points…
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Ray Allen giving Heat exactly what they expected this season, including his clutch 3-pointer in Game 6
Jun 19, 2013, 2:06 AM EDT
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Ray Allen faced a potentially awkward moment before he even played his first game with the Miami Heat. Not only were the Heat facing his old team, the Boston Celtics, his new teammates were receiving their 2012 championship rings. Miami had won a hard-fought seven-game series over Allen’s Celtics on its way to the title,…
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Heat force a Finals Game 7 with thrilling overtime win over Spurs
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Ray Allen is amazingly, incredibly clutch. This is exactly why the Heat wanted him from Boston. What a huge shot. If the Heat win this series, that will go down as one of the greatest shots in Finals history. Allen and LeBron James will get credit for making 3-pointers to send Game 6 to overtime,…
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Tony Parker makes step-back 3-pointer, steals ball, makes spinning jumper (video)
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Tony Parker, who made the defining play of the series, his twisting, shot-clock beating clincher in Game 1, is at it again. He stepped back to create space for a game-tying 3-pointer, got a steal on the other end and then drove into the paint for a short jumper to put San Antonio up by…
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NBA Finals Game 6: Heat comeback in fourth, win in overtime to force Game 7
Jun 18, 2013, 10:27 PM EDT
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That was a great game. And Game 7 sets up to be something special. For three quarters San Antonio’s execution was too much for Miami and the Spurs entered the fourth up 10 (75-65) and just 12 minutes away from a title. Tim Duncan had been a force, with countermoves spinning Chris Bosh around and…
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MIAMI — The Spurs lead the Heat 50-44 at halftime of Game 6 of the Finals, and if Miami is to prevent a championship celebration tonight on its home floor, they must find an answer from what is developing into an all-time great performance from Tim Duncan. Duncan has been unstoppable thus far, and has…
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Mike Miller remained in the starting lineup, but that merely made him the guy in the way of Kawhi Leonard. This ferocious dunk gave Leonard eight early points after he made a three-point play and a 3-pointer.
