The Golden State Warriors wound up hitting the motherlode, sweeping the rug from underneath perennial giants of the sport and scoring one of their own in center DeMarcus Cousins.
But before he even became a possibility to acquire, Dwight Howard was the team's best potential free agent asset to replace veteran Zaza Pachulia in this roster.
According to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, the idea of Howard joining the team was met with a resounding “no.”
Via RealGM:
“I've heard and haven't reported this, and maybe this will get aggregated,” said Kawakami on ESPN's Zach Lowe's The Lowe Post. “I really heard this. It's better than Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard was a ‘no'. That was a ‘no' in a lot of precincts of the Warriors. Flat out ‘no'. And so DeMarcus Cousins against that backdrop is a thumbs up.”
“Draymond clearly a ‘yes' (on Cousins). Durant probably a ‘yes'. Curry probably. The guys who knew him. Maybe others, we'll see.
“Dwight Howard was a ‘no'. Let's not do that.
“Dwight's older but he's more healthy and obviously incredibly talent. That was not going to happen.”
The Warriors were determined to address their one weakness at center, after playing musical chairs at the position after letting go of Andrew Bogut.
Cousins fell on their lap, as it was him who reached out to Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who quickly sealed the deal, despite only offering him a one-year, $5.3 million mid-level exception for his services.
