Daryl Morey says Houston Rockets came close to signing Dwight Howard – NBA News
The Houston Rockets were one of the team that was at the forefront of free agency deals and trades this off-season, but their new roster does not speak very highly for their efforts.
The Rockets entered the off-season geared up for another restructuring, and got around to clearing some cap space to sign a franchise player that could come in and turn the fortunes for the Rockets. And it so happened that former
Orlando Magic All Star Centre Dwight Howard was on the trade market.
Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a four team trade last week, and will now play atleast the next season in the purple and gold, alongside Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash in a superstar roster. The addition of Howard makes
the Lakers certain favourites for the NBA crown next season, but there was a time when the Lakers were not in conversation and the Rockets and Brooklyn Nets seemed like the two teams that were close to signing Howard.
Ever since Howard openly stated his desire to be traded and it became evident that the Magic were looking for a trading partner, the Rockets were in touch with them regarding a possible trade for Howard. Houston were willing to
acquire Howard, and also willing to act as a third team in an any trade and land former Lakers centre Andrew Bynum.
There was a time, when it seemed that the Rockets would definitely be a party to the trade, with a high probability that they would land Bynum. However, when the trade actually went down, the Magic went with the Lakers and the
Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets to complete the deal. Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey has said that the Rockets were very close to signing Howard. Morey was on radio in Houston on Tuesday and said:
“I do feel like it was close but they did their diligence and they were searching for something they thought they liked even more and they liked this trade better than anything we could offer. I promise you Rob knows what he’s
doing and he thought this was best for Orlando and I think people will see over time that he’s a very good executive.”
Even if it is believed that the Rockets were very close in landing Howard, the bottom line still remains that they did not land him and in fact, have actually weakened this roster for next season as compared to the previous season.
The Rockets traded their starting point guard Kyle Lowry, decided not to pick up their reserve point guard Goran Dragic who had a break out year, and also amnestied that strongest front court player in Luis Scola. They have instead
added Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik but none of the two is a franchise player. The Rockets are looking like they will be in restructuring mode for the next season at least.
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