Andrew Bynum

Four Teams Finalize Dwight Howard Blockbuster

August 10th, 2012 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

1:34pm: Ken Berger of CBS Sports has tweeted a number of the details on the traded draft picks in the deal. We've updated the list below to reflect the protection on those picks.

12:19pm: The Magic, Lakers, Nuggets, and 76ers have completed their trade call with the league office, making Dwight Howard a Los Angeles Laker, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The Magic officially announced the transaction in a press release this afternoon.

The details of the massive four-team swap can be found in our post from yesterday that tracked updates as they came in. But here's a quick recap of how the deal looks from each team's perspective based on what's been reported so far, with players' 2012/13 salaries in parentheses. If anything changes when the teams make their official announcements, we'll update this post to reflect that.

Orlando Magic
Acquire: Arron Afflalo ($7,750,000), Al Harrington ($6,687,400), Josh McRoberts ($3,135,000), Maurice Harkless ($1,731,960), Nikola Vucevic ($1,719,480), Christian Eyenga ($1,174,080), protected 2014 first-round pick from Nuggets¹, protected 2015 first-round pick from Sixers², protected 2017 first-round pick from Lakers³, Warriors' 2013 second-round pick from Nuggets, conditional 2015 second-round pick from Lakers⁴
Trade: Dwight Howard ($19,536,360), Jason Richardson ($5,799,625), Chris Duhon ($3,250,000), Earl Clark ($1,240,000)

The Magic also create a trade exception worth about $17.8MM in the deal, as outlined here.

Denver Nuggets
Acquire: Andre Iguodala ($14,968,250)
Trade: Arron Afflalo ($7,750,000), Al Harrington ($6,687,400), protected 2014 first-round pick from Nuggets¹, Warriors' 2013 second-round pick

Philadelphia 76ers
Acquire: Andrew Bynum ($16,889,000), Jason Richardson ($5,799,625)
Trade: Andre Iguodala ($14,968,250), Maurice Harkless ($1,731,960), Nikola Vucevic ($1,719,480), protected 2015 first-round pick²

Los Angeles Lakers
Acquire: Dwight Howard ($19,536,360), Chris Duhon ($3,250,000), Earl Clark ($1,240,000)
Trade: Andrew Bynum ($16,889,000), Josh McRoberts ($3,135,000), Christian Eyenga ($1,174,080), protected 2017 first-round pick³, conditional 2015 second-round pick⁴

¹The lesser of the Nuggets' and Knicks' first-rounders.
²Top-14 protected in 2015, 2016, top-11 in 2017, top-8 in 2018; if the pick still hasn't been conveyed after four years, the Magic will receive 2018 and 2019 second-rounders instead of a first-rounder. The pick cannot be conveyed until the Sixers meet their draft pick obligations to the Heat, which could delay the Magic from getting a first-round pick until 2017.
³Top-5 protected in 2017 and 2018, unprotected in 2019. The pick cannot be conveyed until the Lakers meet their draft pick obligations to the Suns, which would prevent the Magic from getting a first-round pick if the Lakers fail to make the playoffs the next three years. If that takes place, the Magic will receive 2017 and 2018 second-rounders instead.
⁴Top-40 protected; if the pick isn't conveyed in 2015, the Magic will not receive it.

Howard To Lakers, Bynum To 76ers In 4-Team Deal

August 10th, 2012 at 11:18am CST by Chuck Myron

11:18am: SI.com's Sam Amick tweets that McRoberts will be heading to Orlando in the deal, rather than to Denver. Wherever McRoberts ends up, it seems the Lakers will be shipping him out to make the salary figures work.

10:55am: Coon corrects himself (via Twitter), suggesting that Bynum's and Eyenga's salaries aren't quite enough to absorb Howard's and Duhon's. Here's how it looks from the Lakers' perspective, by my calculations:

The team's $1,422,207 traded player exception acquired via Walton can absorb Clark's $1.24MM option.
Bynum's $16,889,000 salary and Eyenga's $1,174,080 total $18,063,080. The Lakers can take back 125% (plus $100K) of that amount: $22,678,850.
Howard's and Duhon's salaries ($19,536,360 and $3,250,000, respectively) total $22,786,360, just barely too much for the Lakers to absorb. So in order to take on both players, Los Angeles will have to either include another player (perhaps McRoberts or Ebanks) or figure out another way to organize the deal. Assuming, of course, that all the public salary figures for these players are accurate.

We should hear shortly how the Lakers ultimately work things out, since the conference call with the league to finalize the trade is expected to begin momentarily, tweets Ken Berger.

10:26am: Cap expert Larry Coon clarifies (via Twitter) that the trade exception the Lakers acquired when they dealt Luke Walton to the Cavaliers is big enough to absorb Clark's salary, so Los Angeles wouldn't necessarily have to send out any more players in addition to Bynum and Eyenga.

10:08am: The pick heading to the Magic from the Sixers will be lottery-protected for the first two years, top-11 protected in year three, and top-eight protected in year four, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Since the Sixers have already dealt their 2013 first-rounder (lottery protected) to Miami, presumably the one going to Orlando would be for 2015, as Sam Amick of SI.com notes. If the Magic don't get a first-rounder from Philadelphia after four years, they'd get two second-round picks instead, tweets Berger.

9:32am: According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, Josh McRoberts may be headed to Denver in the four-way deal. This makes sense, since by my calculations, the Lakers would be unable to take back Howard, Duhon, and Clark without sending out another player in addition to Bynum and Eyenga.

8:49am: The first-rounder heading from the Lakers to Orlando will be the team's 2017 pick, while the first-rounder from Denver will be the lower of the club's two 2014 first-rounders, tweets TNT's David Aldridge. It's still not clear which first-round pick will be coming from the Sixers, but it figures to be 2015's, since their lottery-protected 2013 first-rounder is ticketed for Miami.

8:26am: Duhon is definitely involved in the four-way deal, as he tells Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 7:33am: According to Spears, one of the second-rounders heading to the Magic in the trade will be the Warriors' 2013 second-round pick, from the Nuggets (Twitter link). Orlando will receive one more second-rounder, to bring their total haul to five future draft picks, tweets Kennedy.

Additionally, multiple reports indicate that the conference call with the league to confirm the blockbuster deal will happen no later than about noon eastern today.

THURSDAY, 11:41pm: Larry Coon of HoopsWorld and ESPN.com hears point guard Chris Duhon might be going from the Magic to the Lakers (Twitter link). Earl Clark will also go from Orlando to L.A., tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who reiterates Amick's report that the Magic will get multiple second-round picks in the deal as well.

11:30pm: Christian Eyenga is headed from the Lakers to the Magic as part of the deal, Kennedy tweets.

11:26pm: The Magic are in line for "multiple" second-round picks, writes Sam Amick of SI.com. He also says the Sixers were reluctant to give up Harkless, the 15th overall pick in the draft this past June.

10:47pm: Kennedy hears the Magic may be getting another pick to go along with their three first-rounders in the deal (Twitter link).

10:25pm: The Nuggets could get something additional in the trade, Kennedy tweets. Berger says via Twitter that two sources have cautioned that they have not heard directly from the Magic that they've agreed to the deal. Still, the framework of the deal is in place, Berger tweets.

9:27pm: A source tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld that the Magic, Lakers, Nuggets and Sixers have agreed to the framework of a Dwight Howard deal that sends the league's top center to the Lakers (Twitter link). Kennedy tweets that he's unsure of the precise framework, but ESPN.com's Marc Stein hears that the Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round draft choice from each of the other three teams in the deal. The Sixers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. The Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, and the Lakers will land Howard. Other players are likely to be involved as well, Stein says, although their identities are not yet known. The draft choices going to the Magic are lottery protected, Stein writes.

A conference call with the league office has been scheduled for Friday morning to finalize the deal. Progress on the deal seemed to move swiftly after news of a potential four-team trade broke this afternoon. Earlier reports suggested Gasol would go to the Magic, but that apparently has not materialized. There were also reports that the Lakers could send Devin Ebanks and Josh McRoberts out as part of the trade.

Howard and Bynum are both in the final years of their contracts. Stein hears Howard is unlikely to sign an extension with the Lakers (Twitter link). Sam Amick of SI.com reported earlier that Bynum has had no talks about an extension with the Sixers, who were willing to take him on regardless. Last month a report by Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com suggested the Lakers were willing to roll the dice on Howard, thinking that being around the team's championship culture for a year would entice him to re-sign next summer. The new CBA makes it more lucrative for veterans to re-sign with their teams as free agents as opposed to inking an extension, giving Howard and Bynum further reason to wait it out.

The agreement appears to put an end to months of speculation about Howard's next destination. Howard has been in the middle of nearly constant trade talks since the lockout ended late last year. On multiple occasions he expressed a desire to be traded, and for much of the time the Nets were his primary target. When the Nets took themselves out of the running by re-signing Brook Lopez, Howard began to consider other teams, including the Lakers and Rockets.

The move gives the Lakers an intimidating lineup featuring Howard, Gasol, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, strengthening already vibrant championship hopes.

The Sixers land the second biggest name in the deal with Bynum. They give up Iguodala, a member of Team USA, in exchange for a legitimate post presence and go-to threat in the paint. They also get Richardson, who will likely step into Iguodala's small forward position.

The Nuggets send away Afflalo, whom they'd just signed to a long-term contract last year, and Harrington, who has three more seasons left on his deal, for Iguodala, a defensive stalwart who made his first All-Star team last season.

The Magic get youth, draft picks and flexibility, though perhaps not as much as they were thought to be getting in other rumored trades. They can get out of Harrington's deal after this season, since the final two years are only partially guaranteed, and they have a player option on Vucevic for 2013/14. They could have $20MM in cap space next summer, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com notes (Twitter link).

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported that a four-team deal was in the works, along with the initial framework. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported Vucevic's involvement. Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld reported that Gasol would not be in the deal. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported the deal was close, and Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported the conference call had been scheduled. Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com, Ric Bucher of ESPN.com, and Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com also reported detail.

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More Reactions To The 4-Way Howard Blockbuster

August 10th, 2012 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

On a day when Team USA's semifinal game against Argentina was expected to dominate the headlines, the Olympics have taken a back seat to an epic four-way trade that will see three 2012 All-Stars changing hands. In a deal that's expected to be officially agreed upon later today, the Lakers will acquire Dwight Howard, the Sixers will land Andrew Bynum, and the Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, while the Magic acquire a package of players and picks. We already examined some of the reactions to the agreement last night, but the links continue to pour in, so let's round up a few more….

According to Wojnarowski, the Rockets' offer for Howard included recent first-rounders, future lottery and unprotected first-round picks, and the opportunity to move bad contracts and gain cap space (Twitter links). I've maintained for a while that Houston's looked like Orlando's most logical trade partner, and none of the details about the Rockets' offer make me think otherwise.
In response to John Hollinger's tweet linked below, Brian Schmitz stresses, via Twitter, that the Howard deal ran through Hennigan first, before progressing to Martins and the DeVos family.

Earlier updates:

ESPN.com's John Hollinger tweets that it was likely Magic CEO Alex Martins, rather than GM Rob Hennigan, that ran the Howard deal.
In an Insider piece for ESPN.com, Hollinger says he likes the four-way trade for three teams, but really can't understand it from the Magic's perspective.
Sam Amick of SI.com argues that it's unfair to criticize the Magic for the deal yet, since there's a major "wait-and-see" aspect to their haul.
With everyone wondering whether the Magic could have acquired more from the Nets a month ago, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets Brooklyn's final offer for Howard: Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries (on a one-year, $9.6MM guarantee), MarShon Brooks, and four unprotected first-round picks for Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon, and Earl Clark.
Bynum had been open to re-signing with the Lakers, but was also very receptive to signing with a team where he could earn more touches, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Acquiring Bynum and his Bird Rights makes the Sixers the overwhelming favorites to retain him long-term, as I suggested earlier this week.
The Howard trade is the latest bitter pill for the Mavericks' front office to swallow, writes Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com.
National NBA fans may consider the Dwightmare to be over, but Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel says Howard's departure could haunt Magic fans for years.

Fallout From Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum Trade

August 9th, 2012 at 11:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The news of the night is the news of the year in the NBA: An agreement has been reached on a trade that sends Dwight Howard to the Lakers. Andrew Bynum is also involved, as he heads to the Sixers. Of course, both players are eligible to become unrestricted free agents next summer, so the rumor mill is unlikely to stop for either of them anytime soon. Nonetheless, it still represents a blockbuster and a major turning point for several teams in 2012/13 and beyond. Here's what writers around the league are saying:

If the Lakers can't re-sign Howard next summer, the Mavs "will be there waiting for him," a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Howard has expressed fondness for the Mavs in the past. In the same report, Kobe Bryant is described as being "ecstatic" about the deal.
Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com says Howard represents an upgrade over Bynum because of his defense, his athleticism, and his ability to fit better with Steve Nash.
A few league executives believe there has to be something more in the deal for the Magic, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News. Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com wonders why the Magic waited so long to make a deal when the offers never improved (Sulia link). Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel isn't sure any notable free agents would be interested in signing with the depleted Magic next summer (Sulia link).
Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News says the Sixers now have the dominant big man team president Rod Thorn and coach Doug Collins have coveted. Cooney took to Twitter to say the trade is a coup for the Sixers, who get at least one season from Bynum and cap space if he leaves.
Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post says the Nuggets will lose some offense, but Andre Iguodala will allow them to make major strides on defense, where they've struggled in recent seasons.
Tim Bontemps and Fred Kerber of the New York Post look at the deal from the perspective of the Nets, who were once considered frontrunners for Howard. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News says, via Twitter, that the deal demonstrates that the Magic were never too high on Brook Lopez.
The Cavs were asked to give up a lot more for Bynum when they were a part of trade talks, says Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Sulia link).

Magic Close To Four-Team Howard Blockbuster

August 9th, 2012 at 9:12pm CST by Luke Adams

9:12pm: Stein says there are still unreported names in the deal, but the Magic are getting Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick from each of the other three teams in the deal. The Sixers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. The Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, and the Lakers will land Dwight Howard. Pau Gasol is not in the deal, Stein hears (All Twitter links).

8:59pm: A conference call has been scheduled for Friday morning with the league office to process the deal, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

7:34pm: Berger says the most likely scenario involves the Magic getting neither Andrew Bynum nor Pau Gasol, adding credence to earlier reports that Gasol won't be a part of the deal (Twitter link).

7:29pm: Various Twitter reports indicate differing levels of confidence that the deal will get done. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com says the deal will happen "barring any last minute snag." ESPN.com colleague Ric Bucher believes the Magic and Lakers are pushing hard to complete the trade, but adds there are still many question marks. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says the talks are serious, but cautions there are a lot of moving parts. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports "guarded optimism" about the deal.

7:11pm: The deal has "huge legs," a source tells Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com, and the teams have made progress toward its completion today, Lynam tweets.

6:55pm: A source close to Gasol says he's not in the trade, Ric Bucher of ESPN.com tweets.

6:39pm: Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears the deal is "very close" and could take place as early as Friday morning. Broussard says that Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles also hears Gasol may not be a part of the trade. Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com tweets that there is greater confidence a Howard deal will get done than in the past. The Sixers are willing to take on Bynum even without assurances he'll re-sign next summer, according to the ESPN report.

6:23pm: Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld, in an updated version of an earlier story, says one of the variants of the deal doesn't include Gasol, and it's unclear whether it includes Al Harrington. Devin Ebanks, on a sign-and-trade, and Josh McRoberts may also be a part of the deal.

5:52pm: A source close to the talks tells HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy that reports so far have the teams right, but the deal would likely include different players if it gets done, as the Magic, Lakers, Nuggets and Sixers discuss multiple scenarios. No deal is imminent or near completion, the source says (Twitter links).

5:41pm: Sixers center Nikola Vucevic would also go to the Magic as part of the deal, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

4:37pm: Sam Amick of SI.com confirms discussion of the trade and hears from a source with knowledge of the Rockets' latest Dwight Howard trade proposal who says it would give the Magic more assets than today's rumored four-team deal would. Andrew Bynum's agent, David Lee, says he hasn't had conversations with the Sixers or any other team about an extension for his client, Amick adds. Several other agents whose clients are said to be part of the four-teamer tell Amick they're unaware of the latest trade talks.

3:35pm: Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld hears that, while these four-team talks are ongoing, the Magic continue to discuss other Howard trade scenarios as well (Twitter link).

2:06pm: Jason Richardson is also involved in the tentative framework of the proposed trade, says Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Richardson could head to L.A. in the deal, which makes sense. He would fill the Lakers' need for a shooter, and his salary combined with Harrington's is still not close to what Gasol earns.

12:05pm: The framework of a possible deal includes Howard and Al Harrington going to the Lakers, Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets, Bynum to the Sixers, and Pau Gasol and Arron Affalo to the Magic, according to Wojnarowski. Presumably there would be a few more moving parts involved, with the Magic gaining also picks and/or cap relief. The Lakers and Nuggets, with their $13MM trade exception from this year's Nene deal, would each have room to take on an Orlando contract or two in that scenario.

Wojnarowski adds that the destinations of Bynum and Gasol in the proposed deal are still up in the air, but one would go to Orlando and one to Philadelphia. According to Wojnarowski, the Magic may feel better about flipping Gasol for another asset rather than acquiring Bynum and risking having him leave in free agency next summer.

11:45am: The Dwight Howard rumor mill has quieted down in recent weeks, but the Magic certainly don't appear to be done discussing a potential trade. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), Orlando is engaged in four-way talks about a possible Howard blockbuster with the Lakers, Nuggets, and 76ers. Wojnarowski adds that discussions have been ongoing for a few days, and they have substance, although nothing is imminent (Twitter link).

While Howard appears open to a trade to the Lakers, it seems a straight-up deal between L.A. and Orlando will be extremely difficult, since both teams would like to shed salary, and the Lakers already traded multiple future first-round picks in order to acquire Steve Nash.

The last series of Howard rumors involved the Lakers and Magic talking to the Cavs about a deal that would send D12 to Los Angeles and Andrew Bynum to Cleveland. In this case, perhaps Bynum would go to Philadelphia, with the Nuggets involved somehow to take on salary or provide picks in order to land assets in return. That's just my speculation though — we'll have to wait for more details on exactly what's being discussed here.

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Pincus On Howard, Bynum, Gasol, Green, Clippers

August 9th, 2012 at 5:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sources tell Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld that the Lakers would be "far more comfortable" building around Dwight Howard rather than Andrew Bynum. If today's rumored four-team trade comes to fruition, the Lakers would get their wish. Pincus has a few more items of note in his latest piece, and we'll hit the highlights here:

If the Rockets can't land Howard or Bynum, they might have interest in acquiring Pau Gasol if he's dealt to the Magic, Pincus says. Gasol would net the Magic fewer assets than if they dealt Howard to the Rockets, but Pincus believes it would still be a solid haul.
The Lakers have their $3.09MM taxpayer's mini mid-level exception available, but are reluctant to tie it up with a trade for Howard still in play.
Pincus has the details on Willie Green's deal with the Clippers, who acquired the veteran shooting guard in a sign-and-trade last month. It's a three-year deal for $4.2MM, but only the first season, at $1.375MM, is fully guaranteed. He also looks at the multiple trade exceptions held by the Clippers, which gave the team a choice when they acquired Green. The team opted to use part of a $2.76MM exception left over from dealing Al-Farouq Aminu in the Chris Paul trade.

Odds & Ends: Green, Hummel, Bynum, Prospects

August 8th, 2012 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's check in on a few links from around the league on a Wednesday afternoon, as Argentina and Brazil battle for a spot in the Olympic semi-finals….

Jeff Green spoke to Josh Zavadil of CelticsBlog about his heart surgery, having to sit out the 2011/12 season, and returning to the Celtics this summer. Green also praised Celts president of basketball operations Danny Ainge for the team's roster moves this summer.
Purdue forward Robbie Hummel has signed with Spanish team Obradoiro, the club announced (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Hummel was drafted 58th overall by the Timberwolves in June, so Minnesota will hold his rights if he hopes to play in the NBA in the future.
Kevin Ding of the Orange Country Register suggests that the Lakers' public courting of Dwight Howard is only giving Andrew Bynum reason to leave Los Angeles. Earlier today, I looked at a few scenarios for Howard's and Bynum's next contracts.
In an Insider-only piece, ESPN.com's Chad Ford takes an early look at the rising and falling stocks of some of 2013's top prospects.

Contract Scenarios For Howard, Paul, Bynum

August 8th, 2012 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

A quick perusal of Hoops Rumors' list of 2013/14 free agents reveals three unrestricted free agents that figure to land maximum-salary contracts: Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Andrew Bynum. Just because those three guys are hitting free agency at the same time though doesn't mean they're all eligible for identical salaries when signing their next deals.

There are essentially three ways these players could sign their next max-salary contracts:

They could sign extensions with their current teams, which would mean adding just three extra years to their current contracts.
They could become free agents and re-sign with the team that holds their Bird Rights, for up to five years with 7.5% annual raises.
They could become free agents and sign with a new team, for up to four years and 4.5% annual raises.

It's no secret that the second scenario maximizes the amount of guaranteed money a player can earn on his next contract — this detail of the CBA allows teams a better shot to retain their own star free agents. If the player wants to leave badly enough, he can sign elsewhere, but he'd be giving up millions in guaranteed money to do it.

So how much exactly would each player make in each of these three scenarios? Let's run through and break them down….

Three-year extension:

While the maximum extension a veteran can sign is actually for four years, that includes the current season, so only three years are new. Additionally, while players can typically earn 107.5% of their previous salary in the first year of an extension, all three of these guys are already making more than the maximum, so the can't exceed the 105% they'd earn in the first year of a free agent contract. These extensions include 7.5% annual raises, but even Howard's $66MM pales in comparison to what he could earn as a free agent.

Five-year free agent contract:

Howard, Paul, and Bynum would all be eligible for contracts in excess of $100MM if they wait until next summer and re-sign with the clubs with whom they finish the 2012/13 season. This is why the team that holds the player's Bird Rights at season's end will be considered the odds-on favorite to re-sign him, a scenario we saw play out earlier this summer, when Deron Williams re-upped with the Nets for five years and $98MM+. These max contracts start at 105% of the players' 2012/13 salaries and include 7.5% annual raises.

Four-year free agent contract:

Players can, of course, re-sign for four years or less with their end-of-year teams and receive raises up to 7.5%, but this scenario assumes they're signing with a new club, limiting their annual raises to 4.5%. As the charts show, the drop-off in guaranteed money from a max five-year deal is precarious, from about $26MM for Bynum to over $30MM for Howard. Assuming these guys are still performing at an elite level in 2017, they'll make up a good chunk of that salary in the 2017/18 year of their next contracts, but it's hard to guarantee elite production and good health that far in advance.

As I outlined when I examined Bynum's case for a contract extension, it's possible he could benefit from taking a shorter-term extension now, maximizing his career earnings later. Some of the arguments in that piece apply to Paul and Howard to a lesser degree as well. But an agent of a star player in his prime will rarely recommend that his client accept anything less than a maximum guarantee. In each of these three players' cases, the likeliest scenario remains a five-year free agent contract next summer, which is why these next few months will be crucial. The teams that end up with these three stars at season's end will be the overwhelming favorites to retain them long-term.

Extension Candidate: Andrew Bynum

July 31st, 2012 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

It's impossible to discuss trade rumors involving Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum without noting that both players have just one year remaining on their contracts, and will be eligible for free agency next summer. Typically, when we hear about potential new destinations for either star center, we hear that any team acquiring either player would want a long-term commitment before making a deal.

As we've written many times, star players like Howard and Chris Paul are extremely unlikely to sign in-season extensions, since they'd only be able to add three new years rather than the five they could sign for in free agency. But there are certain instances when signing an extension could make more sense for a star player than signing a free agent contract. And as Larry Coon writes in an Insider piece for ESPN.com, Bynum may be one player that fits that bill.

If Bynum were to wait until next summer to sign a five-year contract, it would mean the following:

He would have to stay relatively healthy this season to avoid hurting his stock, something he hasn't always been able to do.
His maximum first-year salary for 2013/14 would be $17,733,450, 105% of his 2012/13 salary.
He would become a free agent again in the summer of 2018, at age 30.

None of those factors on their own should scare Bynum off of waiting until next summer to sign a new contract, but as Coon explains, there are alternatives that could better suit the 24-year-old. If he were to sign an extension immediately, for instance, he'd eliminate the potential injury risk involved in playing out the season.

Coon proposes that Bynum's best bet may be signing a three-year extension with a player option for the final season. In that case, the Lakers center could hit free agency in the summer of 2015, at age 27, when he has ten years of NBA experience. This would allow for the following:

By signing a five-year deal in 2015 (or 2016), Bynum could ensure he's locked into a long-term contract before the league or players' union has the opportunity to opt out of the current CBA in 2017. A new CBA could potentially be less favorable for maximum-salary players.
Because Bynum would be a 10-year veteran in 2015, signing at that point would allow him to earn a first-year salary worth the maximum salary for players with 10+ years of experience, which will almost certainly be higher than the $20,393,468 he'd earn in that season if he were to sign a five-year deal in 2013.
Signing a five-year deal in 2015 and including a player option for the last season would allow Bynum to opt out in 2019 and perhaps sign one last long-term contract at age 31. As Coon notes, due to the over-36 rule, players who are older than 31 can't sign full five-year deals, so age 31 represents the last opportunity for a maximum payday.

For Bynum, there are pros and cons to signing an extension in the near future, and it's certainly not out of the question that he'll decide he's better off waiting until next summer to ink a five-year max deal that would pay him over $100MM. But whereas it makes little sense for players like Howard and Paul to agree to extensions, there are reasons to believe it could be in Bynum's best interests.

So when we hear that Bynum and the Lakers could be discussing a potential contract extension, don't assume it's a bluff to accelerate Howard trade talks with the Magic. If they don't believe they'll land Howard, locking up Bynum for three more years is the best move the Lakers could make, and it might just be Bynum's best move too.

Amico On Latest Dwight Howard Rumors

July 29th, 2012 at 8:41am CST by Daniel Seco

Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio has the latest news and rumors on Dwight Howard as the saga drags on with the calendar set to turn to August on Wednesday. Here are the highlights…

Several sources told FOX Sports Ohio that Howard may be moved by the end of the week now that the Magic have named a head coach. The team presumably wants to create a less chaotic atmosphere for Jacque Vaughn, who was hired on Saturday after spending time coaching in the Spurs organization. The trade partners in a potential Howard deal remain the same as Orlando is expected to once again reach out to the Lakers, Cavs and Rockets.
Andrew Bynum would still be the major piece in a deal with Los Angeles as sources close to the Lakers big man state that Bynum may be open to a trade. The issue with Bynum is that like Howard, he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2012/13 season. It would seemingly be foolish for the Magic to acquire Bynum without first getting a pulse on whether he would sign a long-term deal with the team.
While the Magic will attempt to move Howard before the season starts, some sources say that the team may wait until the February trade deadline to move the All-Star center. A deal halfway through the season would probably net Orlando a lesser package than it would receive now, but more trade partners may come to fruition and provide the Magic with a variety of options.

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