NBA Rumors: Dwight Howard opts out of contract with Houston Rockets
By Jack Crosby
As most people expected, Dwight Howard opted out of his contract with the Houston Rockets on Tuesday
With the NBA Free Agency period set to hit soon, we’re bound to see a lot of surprises as usual. However, at the same time, there will be some occurrences that aren’t really all that shocking, and one of those came on Tuesday courtesy of Dwight Howard.
As a lot of people expected heading into this offseason, Howard has informed the team that he is declining his player option for the upcoming season and he will indeed be entering the free agent market this coming summer.
Dwight Howard's reps just told Rockets general manager Daryl Morey that he will not opt in to the final year of his contract, source said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) June 21, 2016
Again, not all that stunning, seeing as the relationship between he and the Rockets hasn’t really worked out as they perceived in the first place.
After a tumultuous year with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2012-13 season, Howard joined the Rockets in 2013-14 and the expectations were pretty high. In his second season, they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, signaling that some even better days might be on the horizon. But this past season they barely made the playoffs and were bounced in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, and through it all, the criticisms of Howard were all over the place.
Now, the real question turns to who will take a chance on him in free agency. We all know that he doesn’t have the greatest reputation in the world, and by him opting out, he’s sending a message that he wants one more huge deal before his career comes to a close. And with the salary cap rising this season, there will be a few teams that will toy with the idea of paying him handsomely.
Again — the only question now is who that organization will be.
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