Let’s take a step back to early Tuesday morning. #NBATwitter was on fire as rumors flew around that the New York Knicks could maybe trade Kristaps Porzingis and the Los Angeles Lakers were working towards a possible Paul George deal.
Well the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets wanted to jump in on the fun too. Rather than wait and see what their front offices would do, the social media teams for each franchise decided to make a trade.
#NBATwitter is the best twitter pic.twitter.com/du88POPPR9
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 20, 2017
The thing is, just a couple hours later the general managers for the Hawks and Hornets decided to actually make a trade involving one HUGE name.
Sources: Charlotte is sending Miles Plumlee, Marco Belenelli and 41st pick to Atlanta for Dwight Howard and 31st pick.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 21, 2017
Marco Belinelli, excuse me. https://t.co/JXxiWtTw7b
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 21, 2017
Woj dropped a bomb and misspelled Belinelli. Such a shame. But hey, at least he didn’t say Howard was getting traded to an extinct team!
The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to trade center Dwight Howard to the Charlotte Bobcats, source tell ESPN's The Undefeated.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 21, 2017
The Charlotte… Bobcats?
Dwight so disappointing they sent his ass back in time https://t.co/Zg0KJw4Bkd
— Alex Jacob (@whoisalexjacob) June 21, 2017
Bobcats? Hahaha
— Christon Songs (@ChristonSongs) June 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/ElevatorJay/status/877333098182066178
Bobcats ? pic.twitter.com/oIypYmqzOb
— Basquete na Medida (@Basquete_Medida) June 21, 2017
The trade itself is pretty interesting as Howard got traded by his hometown team to a team in the same division.
How the mighty have fallen too. Back in 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers gave up Andrew Bynum, Christian Eyenga, Josh McRoberts, and a 2017 first round pick (that eventually turned into the 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft) for Howard. Meanwhile the Orlando Magic, who gave up Howard back in 2012, received six players, two first round picks, and a second round pick.
Fast forward to 2017 and the Hawks are giving up Howard and a first round pick for two players and a second rounder.
Oh and to top this all off? A couple minutes before the trade was reported, Howard tweeted this:
Ok Twitter Fans ,, give me your thoughts , trades or otherwise & Remember 2B-Nice 🤗 pic.twitter.com/Nl6lQFVvBN
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) June 21, 2017
You really can’t make this stuff up.
https://twitter.com/jasonrmcintyre/status/877332757772247040
https://twitter.com/AnthonyIrwinLA/status/877331387749081088
— Jon Heath (@ByJonHeath) June 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/iPodKingCarter/status/877334292963053569
https://twitter.com/PatrickMCausey/status/877333259759173633
Do you like North Carolina???
— 𝗢 𝗠 ★ 𝗥 (@OmarMagic12) June 21, 2017
— . (@Wallabeees) June 21, 2017