NBA Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard To The Chicago Bulls Who Will Trade Joakim Noah

The chance of Dwight Howard playing another season for the Houston Rockets is extremely slim, and it just really doesn’t seem like it is going to happen. The team tried to trade him during the season and it didn’t happen, but now, he will just opt out of his current contract and sign with whoever offers him the most money. As of now, it appears as if he only wants to go to the Chicago Bulls and that could lead to the team trading away Joakim Noah.

While not every team in the league would sprint at signing Howard, there are a lot of them that would still like to add him to the roster. According to NVO News, his personal opinion is that he would like to be signed by the Chicago Bulls only and he doesn’t want to go anywhere else.

In 2015-2016, Howard averaged 13.7 points-per-game which is his lowest since his rookie season. He also averaged 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks-per-game which are up from his numbers the year before when he played just 41 games.

If the Bulls were to bring in and sign Howard, then they would have to make room and could do that by trading away Joakim Noah. According to Movie News Guide, he actually wants out of Chicago anyway, so that may work out best for both parties.

On July 1, Noah will become a free agent, but the Bulls may want to try to get something in return for him before he just leaves on his own. ESPN reported that last season was a hard one for Noah and he just didn’t have a good season at all, and much of that could be due to a poor relationship with head coach Fred Hoiberg.

Injuries didn’t help matters either as he played in just 29 games all season, and he ended up with an average of just 4.3 points-per-game which is a career low. He also had his lowest rebounding average since 2009, and nothing seemed to work for him at all.

If the Bulls do trade away or lose Joakim Noah to free agency, that is one rather big hole in their roster. Word is that Pau Gasol may not re-sign with the Bulls either and that would leave another glaring absence, but the signing of Dwight Howard may help fill those voids.

If the Chicago Bulls are going to sign Dwight Howard, they will need to make sure that he really wants to land there. At least four or five other teams could make a run at him, and one of those could be the team that drafted him.

I just had a well connected person tell me Dwight Howard is strongly looking at returning to Orlando!

— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) April 28, 2016

My AJC doesn’t believe that the Magic will end up making a huge run at Howard even though some rumors have them looking at him. He’s had some injury problems in recent years and he is indeed slowing down in his production.

The Magic have had a bit of a youth movement in recent years, and it’s worked for them at times and could keep doing so. Bringing in a big contract like Howard would hinder them from looking at other young talent or keeping some of the key player components they have now.

Joakim Noah has gotten to a point where he may have honestly worn out his welcome with the Chicago Bulls, and they will want to go in a different direction. Dwight Howard certainly has reached the peak of his NBA career and is on the opposite end of things now, but he’d still improve a number of teams in the league. At this point, trading away Noah and signing Howard would be an improvement for the Bulls, but other moves will need to be made as well.

[Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]