The Warriors are continuing their push for a Dwight Howard deal, despite not being on Howard's list of preferred destinations, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. While they'd have no assurances that Howard would remain in Golden State past this season, the Warriors aren't backing down from any potentially risky move, says Howard-Cooper.
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle reported ten days ago that the Warriors felt they were still in the hunt for Howard. Golden State would presumably offer a package centered around Monta Ellis that also includes some combination of Klay Thompson, David Lee, and Ekpe Udoh. The idea would be to attempt to convince Howard to stay, and build the roster around D12 and Stephen Curry. Still, as Howard-Cooper points out in a second tweet, it would be a disaster for the Warriors to part with a handful of key assets to acquire Howard, only to see him leave via free agency this summer.
I still believe a Howard trade before the deadline is far from a sure thing, and I wouldn't consider the Warriors a frontrunner, but it appears they're staying the hunt for the Magic superstar for now.
It wouldn’t be a terrible thing for the Warriors to lose Ellis, Udoh and Lee for essentially nothing. The team was built the wrong way anyways for Nelly and Riley has been trying to fix it since but with Ellis being the best player on the team, they will never be able to truly contend because he is a defensive liability. Every point he scores he just gives it up on the other end. Udoh is a failed draft pick. It was obvious then they should have selected Greg Monroe and it is painfully obvious now he should have been selected over Udoh. Lee is just a big contract at this point. I love his play style and he has been a great guy but again he is a defensive liability with no post game. The Warriors have been in desperate need of a guy with a post game since Chris Webber left the team the 1st time.
If the Warriors are able to hang on to Curry and Klay. I would be willing to give up anybody else.
I agree with both of the previous commenters. Udoh has been a decent player, but getting rid of the Lee contract would be a bonus. He is having a great year, but he just cannot be the highest paid player on a playoff team. I would not allow Thompson to go in a salary dump or without a guarantee that the player you trade for is around for a couple of years.