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I know this has been talked about for awhile now, but I don't think I have seen any in-depth discussions about it yet, unless I just missed them.  So, I figured I would throw it out there again and see if it has any legs so to speak.

If, and this is a big IF, Dwight Howard goes to Otis Smith and Orlando this summer and says he doesn't want to come back after next year, I would think they would start fielding calls for him immediately.  Otherwise they are going to end up like Cleveland and get nothing in return.  Obviously there would be several teams that would come calling - Lakers, Nets, Clippers and Bobcats to name a few.  But, could one of those teams be the Celtics??

Obviously the new CBA will determine if this would actually be possible (Especially if they add a franchise tag into the mix), and even if it stays the same, or similar, I'm not even sure this would work, so go ahead and shoot it down if you know for sure it just couldn't happen.

Here's what I was thinking.  Orlando is about $32 mil over the cap for next season.  The Celtics are about $20 mil over.  So, would it be possible to do a sign and trade with Kristic and Davis and/or Green, and throw in the top ten lottery protected pick we got from the Clippers this year, for Dwight Howard?

It would give Orlando a center back, and front court help, which they sorely need, and significantly reduce their payroll for next season, and the C's would only add about $7 mil on to their's for next season.  Sounds like a win-win for both teams.

Not to mention, it gives Howard a shot at winning a title now, along with signing a huge contract after next season when KG and Ray's contracts expire.  Additionally, he knows it would be a good possibilty that if both those two are healthy, and want to continue to play, that they would probably re-sign at a hometown discount in order to have a chance to win a couple more titles in beantown!

I think this is a good possibility with Howard growing increasingly frustrated with his team.  This year's first round exit didn't help the situation for Orlando either.  It looks like someone else is in agreement with me as I just found this on Yahoo! - http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-8534683.

What do you think???