The Atlanta Hawks are expected to make a “serious run” at Dwight Howard before the trade deadline, according to Ken Berger:
There’s widespread belief that the Lakers won’t trade Dwight Howard. However, several teams believe Atlanta will make a serious run at him.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) February 19, 2013
Berger reported a couple of days back that the Lakers were in talks with the Boston Celtics about a Howard-Rondo swap, so that could mean that L.A. may entertain trades for their star center.
The Hawks would be taking a risk by trading for Howard, who is a free agent this summer and has shown no desire to play there at this point in his career, although they could hope that his longtime friend Josh Smith could convince him. Howard is also a native of Atlanta and the Hawks would be able to offer him $30 million more than any other team, as will the Lakers if they keep him.
The trade deadline is this Thursday at 3pm EST.
