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While trade rumors surrounding Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard are nothing new, another team has entered the bidding for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. A recent report indicates the Golden State Warriors have made an offer to Orlando of late, though the Magic have shown no interest in parting with Howard, a free agent-to-be who's asked Orlando to deal him to the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, or Dallas Mavericks.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday the Warriors would be willing to gut their roster if it meant landing Howard, even if only for a one-year "rental." Golden State can build a package around 23-year-old point guard prospect Stephen Curry, who owns career averages of 17.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 43.8 percent three-point shooting. They could also offer Orlando the salary-cap space necessary to unload Hedo Turkoglu's onerous contract.
Despite his youth, Curry has had injury troubles throughout his career, and needed surgery to reconstruct his right ankle. The Davidson product has sprained it seven times in the last 15 months, Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area writes, most recently on Wednesday. "Quite frankly, he was despondent," Steinmetz says of Curry's attitude following the game. As for Wednesday's injury itself? "That's the worst it's been," Curry said.
Assuming Curry makes a strong recovery, one has to regard him among the best prospects Orlando could acquire for Howard, behind only Lakers center Andrew Bynum. Then again, Orlando's preference may be to net talented veterans in any Howard trade, which would rule out Curry and Nets center Brook Lopez.
Elsewhere, Marc Stein of ESPN writes the New York Knicks can simply forget about landing Howard via trade, as the Magic are uninterested in receiving Amar'e Stoudemire in return. "Orlando has shown little interest in the high-scoring forward in recent years," Stein says, citing a source, "presumably because of the various knee surgeries that made Stoudemire's Knicks contract uninsurable." A six-time All-Star, Stoudemire owns career averages of 21.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 53.6 percent shooting.
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