Sources: Houston has started contacting teams about trading Dwight Howard

Here's my shortlist of Dwight landing spots:

1A - DALLAS
- Cuban loves our scraps and already tried to get Dwight 2 years ago in FA
- Fegan still owes him for Deandre disaster
- Plus D12 could reunite with butt-buddy Chandler, then opt out together and go FA shopping as Ambiguously Gay Duo this summer
- One big problem ... I can't think of a single match in returned assets that would appeal to Morey ... would have to be part of 3way deal

1B - BOSTON
- Best fit among all 31 other teams of assets Rockets would like in return (mult lotto picks)
- Large DLee contract ($15.9M) is best expiring salary match we'll find
- Ainge has been 'building' towards a big move for years and, much like Morey pre-Harden trade, may be feeling heat from owners/fans to 'pull the trigger' sooner than later
- I'd be ecstatic to net Avery (new starting PG), Lee's expiring, and a lotto pick for Dwight

3 - MIAMI
- Capped out, can't re-sign Hassan ... D12 may be only option for Pat Riley as decent replacement for Whiteside as DEF anchor next season
- EVERYBODY likes South Beach, and Dwight is known to enjoy off-court activities as much as any NBA star
- Whiteside may be as good a replacement for Dwight as our DEF anchor that Morey can hope to find next 12-18 mos
- Deng already replaced by Winslow, could help Rockets, decent start on matching D12's salary, and I believe also expiring?

4 - ATLANTA
- Dwight's hometown, also looking to shake up Vet core on contender gone stale
- Already rumors of them actively shopping Horford/Teague/Korver, who could provide decent salary & expiring contracts to match w Dwight
- Prob best option to get involved in 3way deal w us plus DAL, BOS, etc ...

 

Bad bad long contracts. NOOOOOOO

 

Add up the events. Harden, Morey and Dwight have a meeting yesterday

Today someone tells Woj (Who's super close to Morey) that they are now engaging teams for trades.

You know that the last thing Dwight needs is another Dwightmare. Another long drawn out affair where he gets trash talked about him because he hasn't been traded by the deadline.

No way will Morey risk losing him for nothing and no way Dwight will stand to be made to look like a cancer (unwillingly) again.

 

Bulls already proved that back in the 90s.

 

Sad day.

 

The Rockets can move Howard and Ariza to Charlotte for a package centered around Kidd-Gilchrist and Kaminski and have it help both teams.

 

Morey has to be asking about Bosh and Melo first.

I actually don't think it's that unrealistic if Miami or NYK are looking to get rid of those contracts.

 

you're right about that.

RC will remind us that Dwight is a HOFer.

 

It was obvious to me, I remember thinking how stupid the Blazers were for not getting KD. Goes to show that sometimes fans are correct on their opinions.

 

Our problems:
1. Our Superstar player (Harden) doesn't play D and nobody can make him play D.
2. Our Superstar center can't score facing the basket and is a poor free throw shooter, yet wants to post up when we score maybe 30% of the time.
3. The other players see the disfunction between the 2 and say why am I trying when they don't care
4. Our defensive and offensive strategies are seriously flawed. We switch all PnR on defense and allow easy penetration on D

 

H&H boys never started

 

You don't have the assets Eddie!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Before anybody gets any wild ideas, let's call it an extreme longshot that the Mavericks have any legit interest in/shot at Dwight Howard.</p>&mdash; Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/697878753725132800">February 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coming up with $17-mil to send back in assets the Rockets would want would seem to be next to impossible.</p>&mdash; Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/697878861061554176">February 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
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He is a complete moron and i think he had only one good season(his contract season) plus i don't understand what he does well. He is not a good rebounder, defender or shooter. He is also a chucker. why people want rockets to trade for him.

 

I feel sorry for Dwight because Morey put him in an inept system with an inept coach and everyone thinks this is happening because Harden and Howard just couldn't "mesh".

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NBA sources confirm <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockets?src=hash">#Rockets</a> are contacting teams in an effort to trade <a href="https://twitter.com/DwightHoward">@DwightHoward</a>.</p>&mdash; Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/697877279704088576">February 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
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System and coaching have nothing to do with Howard's body breaking down and his inability to shoot free throws.

 

More than likely they are looking at acquiring a large expiring in a deal. If Boston is involved, you can almost surely expect David Lee to be coming back to the Rockets.

So let's talk hypotheticals here.

-Lets say the Rockets ONLY trade Dwight in a deal as significant salary (likely other players involved in any deal), and the Rockets waive Lawson in the offseason (almost a sure possibility at this stage).

The Rockets would have 54.2 million on the books going into free agency BEFORE the salaries of the player they would be acquiring in a Dwight deal this year that AREN'T expiring. Keep in mind I'm counting the cap holds for D-Mo & Jones (who might be renounced if the Rockets don't care to match).

The salary cap is projected at 88 million this Summer. If the Rockets can minimize this trade to bring in a bit more than 10 million in NON expiring beyond this year, they should be fine to make a Dwight trade AND have a max contract offer this Summer.

The Rockets are also likely to make other trades too that could make things easier to clear up cap this Summer. I would expect that Brewer, Lawson, and possibly Beverley & Ariza are sure to be shopped. The Rockets will likely look a whole hell of alot different by the end of July if not by the end of February.

 

What is the right system. 4 shooters plus Dwight ? Guess what Dwight is not so athletic anymore, he was a beast back in Orlando, plus no one scared of him around the basket.

 

Good luck with this. Maybe a team looking to salary dump will take him on in hopes he opts out this summer?

 

This is Harden's ~poor character breaking the team

So sad.

We're sticking with Harden though, so I really hope the next iteration of players that we surround him with is to his liking so the Rockets can get back to having good chemistry and try to win.

Harden is not the worst character, but whatever funk he's in right now has brought him nanometer close to being a team cancer. He's young enough where I think he can pick himself up and learn from this to be a better teammate for future Rockets teams