No Trade: Dwight Howard staying with Rockets past the trade deadline

kwakmeister · Feb 18, 2016

SuperKev said: ↑

I don't get it. It genuinely feels like we gave up on the season. DMo could have helped us, MT was helping us. Trading them for nothing seems confusing. Perhaps we are going to sign someone who gets waived.
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I feel kinda similar. But I am optimistic about the whole thing. I thought DMo was going to be huge after the all star break. I loved the offensive flow when he was on the court. Now we're hopefully going to see more minutes for Smith. The loss of Thornton will probably bring in more Terry or KJ McDaniels whom I am anxious to see. Terry himself I think boasts the highest +/- on the team.

So hopefully we see more Smith so he can get a better feel of the offense. Same with Lawson. Now that they know they arent being traded is it uncalled for to imagine they might play better? Pressure is off and they are on contract years so they need to perform well or we're just going to resign them for a lower market value. This year is *****ed though.

DaDakota · Feb 19, 2016

Yippee the big selfish dork gets to stay until he leaves in the summer for nothing.

DD

Matthieu · Feb 19, 2016

what other teams offered for him must have been terrible for us to keep him knowing he'll leave this summer ...

Gimmmethemike · Feb 19, 2016

DaDakota said: ↑

Yippee the big selfish dork gets to stay until he leaves in the summer for nothing.

DD
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Shut your whiny ass up DD and trust Morey

J.R. · Feb 19, 2016

Rockets sought frontline player, first-rounder for Dwight Howard

Sources said that the Rockets talked about potential Howard deals in recent days with a list of teams including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and, most recently, Milwaukee. Sources say Houston, however, told several teams that it wasn't prepared to trade Howard without receiving at least one frontline player and a future first-round draft pick in return.

The Rockets took a similar approach with young power forward Donatas Motiejunas and managed to extricate a first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons for Motiejunas in the one trade they did complete on deadline day.

But interested teams were unwilling to pay such a premium for Howard, at least in part because Howard, who turned 30 in December, can become a free agent July 1.

"Many teams called expressing great interest in trading for Dwight," Howard's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com on Thursday night. "The obvious stumbling block to a trade was how could a team justify giving up important assets for a player who was about to become a free agent in a few short months?

"Not surprisingly, as the deadline approached, several teams called stating they had worked out the trade parameters with Houston for a Dwight deal but were not prepared to give up their assets unless Dwight agreed to opt into the last year of his contract and forego free agency. Dwight declined."

Howard, who reiterated he had never made any trade demands, said Thursday he was moving forward and would focus on helping the Rockets get into the playoffs.

Fegan refused to discuss specific teams that made pitches for Howard, but sources told ESPN.com that the Bucks were one of those teams.

The Bucks and Rockets did exchange some trade proposals, sources said, but Milwaukee made it clear that it wouldn't go through with any deal for Howard unless he opted into the final season of his contract, which is scheduled to pay him $23.3 million in 2016-17.

Howard earns $22.3 million this season in the third year of his four-year, $88 million contract with the Rockets and has made it clear he intends to bypass Year 4 to return to the open market.

"It was going to have to take something significant to make us look at anything and even then we probably wouldn't have [traded Howard]," Morey told the Houston Chronicle on Thursday night.

"Part of my job is I have to explore everything."

In reference to recent reports of growing friction between Howard and James Harden, Morey told the Chronicle: "We believe in James and Dwight together."

Expounding more on the Harden/Howard tandem in an interview with The Vertical website, Morey said: "This is a group that we would be very reluctant to split up. Obviously there was a lot of interest in [Howard] -- I think there was a lot of noise about that -- but that [duo] was something we were going to be very reluctant to break up. As part of my job I do have to listen to everything, but nothing got close and we weren't going to split that up unless it was something significant."
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Why Dwight Howard's search for a new NBA home continues

Another year, another trade deadline and the never-ending search for stability for Dwight Howard continues. The Rockets did what they could to move Howard out of Houston on Thursday, NBA sources told The Vertical, canvassing the league for offers, plainly instructing teams to submit their best bids. No luck. Howard is still in Houston, still a Rocket, though with just 27 games remaining in a forgettable season, those days may officially be numbered.

The gap between what the Rockets wanted and what teams offered for Howard was considerable, for two reasons: Howard, 30, can be a free agent at the end of the season, and he will likely seek a contract worth north of $20 million per year. Howard has been healthy for most of this season, yet concerns about a once-debilitating back injury linger. And while executives admit Howard is better than the pedestrian scorer (14.6 points per game) he has morphed into alongside James Harden, you are hard-pressed to find many willing to mortgage the future of the franchise to go get him.

Picking on Howard is easy, sporting even. He's the guy who smiles too much, goofs around too often, who appears to play with the same fire as headband-clad hackers do in rec league games. He's the guy who drove Stan Van Gundy out of Orlando, pissed off Kobe Bryant and drew the ire of Kevin Durant. He irritates winners more than he tries to become one.

But really: Is he that terrible? In an off year, one that has seen his shot attempts dip to rookie-year levels, Howard is third in the NBA in rebounding and field-goal percentage. He's not an automatic double-team anymore but he's a difficult cover in the post and a load to keep off the glass. Mock him, belittle him, but good luck finding six or seven true centers better than him.

Houston would like nothing more than to move forward with Howard and Harden as cornerstones, to use the pair to lure a marquee free agent like Durant, to assemble an All-Star team that can compete with the one blitzing the league in Golden State. But the Rockets understand: The relationship between Howard and Harden has become increasingly unsalvageable. Howard has never whispered a word about wanting out of Houston, about any disdain for Harden, but the lack of on-court chemistry between the two is obvious. Howard still craves a bigger role, and it's hard to see that materializing in Houston.

There won't be an elaborate courtship of Howard, but make no mistake: Teams will come calling. Not being interested in forking over young players and picks for Howard is a lot different than throwing some decent money at him. Take Boston. The Celtics were involved in the Howard sweepstakes, league sources told The Vertical, but, like everyone else, were not interested in paying Houston's price. Yet Celtics president Danny Ainge is a fan of Howard. Kevin McHale gave Ainge a strong endorsement of Howard, and there are few people in the NBA Ainge respects more than Mac. Boston has a hole in the middle and money to spend; to the Celtics, Howard is intriguing.

Several teams will undoubtedly feel the same. When the dust settles on the Durant derby, when Al Horford and Mike Conley choose where they want to play, there will be Howard. The days of a five-year max contract are history, and four-year ones might be gone, too. Howard will have to swallow a cheaper deal, a shorter deal, one that reflects the diminished player he, at least statistically, has become. Still, right team, right price, Howard's ability to be an impact player can still be considerable. He can't lead a team to the Finals anymore but in the right role he can still help one get there.
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OTMax · Feb 19, 2016

So what are we doing here? Just sticking with the same team even though we're broken minus a possible starting PF and the only shooter off the bench who created for others? We kept Howard so we're still kind of trying to make the play-offs, but not really..anybody?

NicktheBrick · Feb 19, 2016

So the carpetbagger Howard refused to opt-in? Typical no-character garbage brought in by the worthless GM Morey.

NicktheBrick · Feb 19, 2016

(sorry double-post) And there is now zero chance Howard plays hurt. The Rockets will now collapse under the stench that is Daryl Morey.

J.R. · Feb 19, 2016

Marc Stein on the Lowe Post podcast:

Raptors: PJ Tucker & Ariza were the guys that appealed to them. In the end, how close it was, only they know.

(re: crazy money this summer) 4/80 for Ryan Anderson is not out of the realm.

Stein: If the Heat knew Bosh was okay and thought they could make a run, they would have been more serious about Dwight Howard. If they go for Howard, it has to be Deng, McRoberts, & Whiteside, that would have been the offer. Does Houston take it? The sense I got was Miami would have gone harder after Dwight if they thought they had a team in good shape to make a run. Too many questions to make that harder push. ... Riley is king of reclamation projects. Heat are the ultimate dice rollers.

Lowe: If Miami got serious about Dwight, would they put Dragic on the table?

Stein: ...If they did make Dragic available, I'd assume the line would be long.

D-rock · Feb 19, 2016

J.R. said: ↑

Marc Stein on the Lowe Post podcast:

Raptors: PJ Tucker & Ariza were the guys that appealed to them. In the end, how close it was, only they know.

(re: crazy money this summer) 4/80 for Ryan Anderson is not out of the realm.

Stein: If the Heat knew Bosh was okay and thought they could make a run, they would have been more serious about Dwight Howard. If they go for Howard, it has to be Deng, McRoberts, & Whiteside, that would have been the offer. Does Houston take it? The sense I got was Miami would have gone harder after Dwight if they thought they had a team in good shape to make a run. Too many questions to make that harder push. ... Riley is king of reclamation projects. Heat are the ultimate dice rollers.

Lowe: If Miami got serious about Dwight, would they put Dragic on the table?

Stein: ...If they did make Dragic available, I'd assume the line would be long.
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Deng, McRoberts and Whiteside on the Rockets. That would have been interesting.

Harden
Ariza
Deng
Smoove
Whiteside

Defense should not have been a problem with this starting 5.

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No Trade: Dwight Howard staying with Rockets past the trade deadline

kwakmeister Contributing Member

DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

Matthieu Member

Gimmmethemike Member

J.R. Member

OTMax Member

NicktheBrick Member

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