The Charlotte Hornets were involved in one of the two trades that happened on Wednesday as they acquired Courtney Lee from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade. The Hornets don't appear to be done, though, as they have been in contact with the Houston Rockets regarding a potential Dwight Howard trade. Although there is interest there for the Hornets, a deal doesn't seem very likely, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Wojnarowski reports that the Hornets' interest in Howard is real, but they are not interested in "cashing assets" for the center. Howard has an option for next year which he is expected to decline, so he could just bolt in free agency if he so chooses. Because of that the Hornets do not want to give up assets for a rental player.
The trade talks between the Hornets and the Rockets were first reported by Marc Stein of ESPN, and even at that time he said that they were having trouble finding a "workable deal." Hornets head coach Steve Clifford has worked with Howard before in Orlando and reportedly loved it, but as of now it seems as though there is "no path to a deal."
The Hornets sit in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, and they are intent on making the playoffs this year. Acquiring Lee should help them soften the blow of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being out for the season, but they don't want to just stop there. The center position has been a bit underwhelming for the Hornets this year, and Howard would represent a big upgrade there. Al Jefferson has been hurt and is falling out of favor, and Spencer Hawes, Frank Kaminsky and Cody Zeller haven't exactly lit the world on fire, so the interest in Howard makes sense.
The Rockets would be smart at this point to try and squeeze as many assets as they possibly could out of Howard considering they are on the outside of the playoff picture and he wants a max contract this offseason. It just doesn't seem like any teams, including Charlotte, are willing to get rid of a lot of assets for Howard who has declining skills, is getting up there in age and still wants to be paid the max. Give the Hornets credit for at least looking at making a huge trade, but it just doesn't seem reasonable a day before the deadline.
