Soon-to-be free agents Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are considering joining together next season. The two All-Stars have been in steady contact recently in regard to possibly becoming teammates next season, ESPN reports. If the pair wants to play together, the number of teams that can afford them significantly dwindle.
Los Angeles Lakers' Howard and Los Angeles Clippers' Paul are the two biggest free agent names this summer. Similar to how LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh spoke during the summer of 2010 before all signing with the Miami Heat, Howard and Paul are reportedly doing the same.
"They would love to play together if somebody can make it happen," one source told ESPN.
Not many teams can afford the Howard-Paul tandem. Salary caps and the looming "repeater" tax that goes into effect for the 2014-15 season make signing both stars a costly, if not impossible, task. The Dallas Mavericks, who've been interested in both players, could likely only afford one. The Los Angeles Lakers are already tens of millions of dollars over the 2013-14 salary cap, and they face a massive luxury tax if they don't get creative with their roster by 2014-15.
So who then?
The Atlanta Hawks. At the moment, they appear to be the only team able to afford both Howard and Paul. Atlanta has enough room to sign them to maximum-salaried contracts.
One snag: neither player sounds thrilled to play in Atlanta. Howard, who grew up in Atlanta, isn't fond about potentially returning home - but he would make the move if Paul did, ESPN's sources said.
Paul reportedly loves living in Los Angeles.
"It would be very tough for him to go to Atlanta," the source said. "He loved Atlanta when they should have drafted him in '05 but not so much since then. But hey, everybody is an option at this point."
The Clippers could become an option for both players, but only if the team was able to complete a sign-and-trade deal with the Lakers. The sign-and-trade is a must given the Clips' cap room, but it appears unlikely the Lakers would ever make the deal with them.
Trading All-Star Blake Griffin could tempt the Lakers though, according to one of the sources. Most within the Clippers organization, however, consider Griffin untouchable.
While some teams still haven't used their amnesty clause, it appears, to this point, a difficult endeavor for any team to land Howard and Paul as a pair.
Free agency officially begins July 1.
