The Houston Rockets season is effectively over and with it comes the questions about a crucial offseason. Among the most important questions to ask: will Houston be the home of Dwight Howard next season?
Well, according to ESPN’s Calvin Watkins, the simple answer is no. Howard has a player option at the end of the season and it has long been a given that he will opt out and seek a long-term deal. What has been up to speculation, however, has been whether his decision would be to stay with the Rockets or not.
Howard is not expected to have a role. It’s expected that he will become a free agent and seek a new team. Orlando, Milwaukee, Portland and Charlotte are the favorites.
Howard will be a sought after free agent. He can still impact the game, especially defensively, and is one of the better centers in the league. But he is now thirty years old and looking at depleted health and athleticism with a skillset predicated on said athletic ability. That is enough reason for many teams, such as the Dallas Mavericks, to fear giving the big-man a max contract.
The teams listed by Watkins do make sense as potential landing spots for Howard (though Orlando accepting him back would be pretty crazy). All of them could use a defensive-minded center to shore up their back-line while providing young perimeter players who could use Howard’s ability as a pick and roll screener. With impending raises to the salary cap, giving a max contract to Howard may be worth it for those teams.
It will be an interesting summer in Houston after a thoroughly disappointing season. The high expectations were not remotely met and management will take that into account with several important decisions. Dwight Howard’s free agency may be chief among them, but it may also be the easiest decision to make.
