The biggest threat to the Atlanta Hawks trying to get in on the bidding for Dwight Howard next summer will likely come from out West, especially now that the LA Lakers have acquired a top-shelf PG in Steve Nash.
That, at least, is the thinking in many NBA front offices, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports in his latest piece:
"I think with Nash in the house now, they wouldn't need an assurance up front," one league executive tied closely to the Howard trade talks told Yahoo! Sports. "They know that Dwight can be impressionable and craves Hollywood. I think they would take that chance."
According to Wojnarowski, Howard and Kobe Bryant shared a "tense" phone call last year where Howard reiterated that he had no desire to be Kobe's "Tyson Chandler". Kobe, meanwhile, has made little effort to re-connect with Howard out of respect to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
Nevertheless, Howard, a gifted pick-and-roll finisher who can defend all over the court, would be a better fit with Nash than Bynum, a low-post scorer who rarely leaves the lane. Howard would get 20 points a game just off cutting to the rim with Nash and Gasol on the floor, which is the last thing Atlanta fans want to hear as they hope the Hawks can regain relevance in the NBA next summer.
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