Dallas Mavericks ‘In the Game’ for Los Angeles Lakers’ Dwight Howard

Although Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons has been speaking to Los Angeles Lakers free agent to be Dwight Howard ‘daily’, it appears the Rockets aren’t going to be the Lakers’ lone competition.

The Dallas Mavericks have hid nothing about their desire to sign Howard and with an apparent trade with the New Orleans Pelicans in the works to clear salary, it looks as if the Mavs are going all in – a smart move according to ESPN’s Marc Stein who says the Mavs have a very legit chance to land the big man.

Per Stein, via the Dallas News:

"And the reality is that Houston is in the lead, if we’re talking about Texas teams, when it comes to Dwight. The Mavs have to catch Houston first before they can even think about stealing him from the Lakers. Now, Dwight is the one guy who I’ve always felt, when Cuban gets in front of him, that’s someone that Mark Cuban is really going to be able to sway. The problem is Dwight listens to a lot of people and is easily swayed by others too. It’s going to have to be an amazing sales job by Cuban. And Dwight’s really going to have to believe in the thought that Dirk taking a paycut is going to bring in somebody else significant in the summer of 2014. But then what you’re telling Dwight is we’re most likely going to need one more year after you get here to really mount a challenge. And that’s a tough sales pitch. But the Mavs are in the game on Dwight; on Chris Paul, I just don’t see it."