According to a report, the Houston Rockets tried to convince Dwight Howard not to opt out of his deal and stay with them.
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With free agency rapidly drawing near in the NBA, players have began gearing up for what could be the craziest free agency ever, courtesy of the salary cap spike. One of those players that opted out on Tuesday, was Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard.
With the issues between Howard and teammate James Harden, the dysfunction in the Rockets’ locker room and a change in coaching, Howard returning to Houston was just never going to happen.
However, despite all the issues and changes, the Rockets apparently wanted to keep Howard. According to Rockets reporter for ESPN, Calvin Watkins, the team tried to convince Howard to stay for the final year of his deal.
Rockets tried to convince Dwight Howard to remain with the team according to a source.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) June 22, 2016
It appears that despite their best efforts to keep him, the damage was already done and Howard was clearly long gone with this decision.
He just didn’t fit with where they are heading and it is almost concerning that they tried to keep him. If it’s best for all sides to move on and he isn’t the greatest fit under new head coach Mike D’Antoni, do the Rockets know what direction they want to go?
Now that is something to keep an eye on.
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