On top of being a manbeast, Dwight Howard would make a great politician.

He shows up to random picnics at Orlando parks and simultaneously openly expresses his will to expand his market reach by playing in a bigger city. The latest is maybe the most open he's been with this feeling inside of him.

Scott Raab at Esquire Magazine asked Howard, "Do you see yourself in a larger market?"

Howard responded:

There's more you can do in a bigger place. I'm stuck in a tough position because I feel like right now, where I'm at, I've done so much. And I just don't know what else I can do. I can't live for everybody else. I don't know what decision I'm gonna make as of right now. It's been crazy. Everybody wants me to come here, come play here, come to our team, do this. It's a great feeling, though, to be wanted.

I'm no psychoanalyst, but his quote surpasses a cost-benefit analysis when he brings up the 'great feeling of being wanted'. Combine that with a distaste for Stan Van Gundy as a coach:

SR: If I had a coach like Stan Van Gundy yelling at me all season, I would have slapped that guy silly a long time ago. What's it like to have a guy constantly yelling at you with that voice?

DH: Stan's a great guy away from basketball. He's passionate. He loves the game. I have no problem with him off the court. The only thing I had a real problem with was the way he coached. It was very tough with Stan, because he yelled a lot, and I don't want to be that guy to yell at my teammates along with my coach. Because they're going to turn it all off. I had to find different ways to motivate my team. Sometimes when you have so much negativity, it's really hard to be positive. I had a lot of negativity growing up, so I understand how to block the negativity out.

To suggest he's likely to leave Orlando is extremely premature, yes. Anything can happen and you know what they say: you're not an NBA champion in Florida until you first get Stan Van Gundy to spend more time with his family. (OK, I only say that.) 

To suggest the Bulls can't afford signing him as a free agent because of the salary cap and the Bulls committed liabilities is accurate.

To suggest that a package to trade for him would be too large a personnel price for the Bulls is a reasonable objection to the Bulls attempting to acquire Howard via trade.

But Nick Friedell writing at ESPNChicago.com that "Orlando GM Otis Smith has said repeatedly that he will not trade Howard." is kind of a non sequitur. All GMs have a price and no GM wants to lose a star for nothing in return. As long as that market exists and the Bulls have young talent locked up in contracts, the Bulls are a potential player in the race for Howard.

The Knicks were actually the only buyers for Carmelo Anthony. But false competitors threw dummy offers at Denver, which were leaked to the press, and increased the stake for the Knicks to receive a win share of 'Melo's career. They were conned, but that was them. The Bulls showed that they're unwilling to play a game in which they end up overpaying just to compete with other teams overpaying to acquire a star, so even if you're an apprehensive Bulls fan, you can't be worried, right?