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After two years of careful planning and preparation to make themselves irresistible to Dwight Howard, the Houston Rockets have emerged as the frontrunners to sign the free agent center and will make a formal presentation to him on Sunday night in Los Angeles, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Lakers will make presentations between Sunday's midnight ET start of free agency and Tuesday evening, sources told Y! Sports.
Howard doesn't want this process to extend long beyond his final meetings on Tuesday and could have a decision before the end of the week, sources said.
"He wants to make a decision based on basketball more than anything else," one source with knowledge of Howard's thinking told Y! Sports.
For this reason, Howard has been leaning toward the Rockets in recent weeks and considers them the only team that would instantly allow him to play for a championship contender, sources said. The Lakers aren't out of contention for Howard, but they are running second with the meetings starting Sunday in Los Angeles, sources told Y! Sports.
Two of the biggest hurdles facing the Lakers' ability to re-sign Howard remain his disdain for coach Mike D'Antoni's system and a belief that the Lakers not only aren't a championship contender as constructed, but lack the assets and financial flexibility to become one in the near future, sources told Y! Sports.
Although Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has recently told D'Antoni that his job is secure, sources said, the fact that management hasn't allowed him to start hiring assistant coaches for a depleted staff has left many su ious the Lakers are keeping the option of cutting ties with D'Antoni should it allow them to re-sign Howard.
And the one coach who has most recently been considered for an assistant's spot on the staff, Kurt Rambis, is closely tied to the Buss family and the ever-lurking Phil Jackson. The Lakers are desperate to hold onto Howard, and the reality remains that two of the people who should be most important in the retainment process – D'Antoni and star Kobe Bryant – have poor relationships with him.
The Rockets will sell Howard on a four-year, max contract with advantageous Texas tax rules, a roster constructed for championship contention, an offense designed with him as a cornerstone and an imprint into China and the Far East that could hold immense marketing and endorsement possibilities for him.
Because of their ties to Yao Ming and now Jeremy Lin, the Rockets are the most televised NBA franchise in China, with data showing that nearly 300 million regular-season viewers watched Houston on CCTV 5 this season. For Howard, the Rockets sell will assuredly be how much more lucrative sneaker, appearance and marketing possibilities will be for him in a basketball-driven part of the world.
Dallas is selling Howard a two-year plan to reshape its roster and the championship pedigree of owner Mark Cuban, coach Rick Carlisle and star Dirk Nowitzki.
Atlanta has the cap space to bring Howard back to his childhood home, but Howard has never shown a desire to play as a professional there.
The Warriors have the toughest path to try and acquire Howard – needing a sign-and-trade scenario with the Lakers to make it happen. Golden State hasn't constructed its franchise with the pursuit of Howard as a priority, and has shown little inclination to gut its excellent young core to deliver the Lakers assets in a sign-and-trade deal.
Everybody knows that
OP is a got
Tacker, My !!!OP is a got
QFT.OP is a got
Op is a pretty cool guy tbh
OP is obsessed with the Lakers and their failure. Pretty confident I know whose troll this is.OP is a got
Lol you have no damn clue.
whoever ends up getting him will later find himself being made a jackass, and I'm not telling you a sour grapes story. someone said we dodged a bullet last year by not signing Deron, and if Deron was a bullet, DH is a car bomber
That was me, your old dad. And I was first to cast down Howard.
Your taste in signatures is tremendous. Thank you.
Your right.
I thought you were confident you know who I am? Whaaa happened?
Your face happened
Gonna have a good laugh when Dwight signs with another team next week
Thing that is funny I think Dallas sees him as an upgraded version of Tyson ... He is better but Dirk will have to do heavy lifting on offense. But Dirk is the best stretch pf in history.
GSW would be my choice tbh...They're a better team than Houston
Not after they trade Barnes/Klay. (hypothetically) . Oh and Mark Jackson
Dwight a Rocket, book it.
I don't see how joining Houston would get Dwight to the Finals though. They're not beating OKC nor are they beating my Spurs. Even OKC without Westbrick + Ibaka and Perkins playing like beat Houston in 6 games, Harden is a perennial choker and no one on that team (outside of Howard if he joins) can play D, Rockets are basically a younger version of the injured Lakers - one of the best offenses, defense.
Either way, Howard ain't winning as a nr 1, nr 2 option in the near future, he will not get past OKC in the West, he's better off going back East and joining Horford to have their own version of Twin Towers like the Spurs in 1999. Hawks have a great shooter in Korver, Jeff Teague is already a top 20 PG and Lou Williams will be a solid combo guard once he comes back from his injury.
Smith is a dumb player on offense but if he takes a little less to play with Dwight they could be one of the best defensive teams with a decent enough offense to challenge Indy and Miami come playoff time.
^Why would that matter to you--your lone concern is the Lakers and witnessing them at ground zero.
Dwight choosing anywhere but LA is a huge slap to that city and franchise. They've got the history, the pedigree, can offer the most money, and after this season, maximum cap flexibility to rebuild with a great FA pool next year who will be clamoring to play next to him. Unfortunately for them, their "closer" in these talks is Achilles and I think Duhwhite really does hate him as both a person and a player.
Howard is a loser.
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