The Summer of 2013 Dwight Howard Circus

with Chris Paul committing to the Clippers for a five-year, $107 million deal, Dwight Howard is the only megastar left who hasn't made his Decision (he announced his Decision will be made July 10)

here's a good read on potential suitors by the NBA.com blog:

Howard has already let it be known that two of the NBA’s Texas powers will get the first crack at selling him on leaving the Lakers, with the hometown Hawks also under consideration before finishing up with whatever pitch the Lakers make before his July 10 decision.
...
Howard is obviously not the only free agent target on the market, but until his July 10 decision (that’s his date, not anything being placed on him by an outside entity) he will remain the most scrutinized individual on the market. And rightfully so, because no matter how much damage you think he has done to his own brand and reputation with his actions of the past year and a half, the seven-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of Year remains the most intriguing big man talent in the league (when healthy).

And if you don’t believe it, just watch how these organizations mentioned above go all out in competing for his favor the second the free agency period kicks off at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 1.

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HOUSTON ROCKETS

The closing scene for commissioner David Stern at the draft on Thursday night, when Hakeem Olajuwon came onstage to wrap him in a bear hug, might as well have been a direct message to Howard.

Houston thinks big.

Even in 1984, when the prize of Michael Jordan dangled in front of their eyes, the Rockets made the 6-foot-10 center Olajuwon the No. 1 pick in the draft. Now the franchise that has a linear history of All-Star centers from Moses Malone to Olajuwon to Yao Ming can offer Howard possibilities that are as big as all of Texas.

But the appeal of the Rockets is more than just history. It is a future filled with young talent a world of possibilities. There is not another landing spot for the big free agent that can instantly pair him up with a rising All-Star. James Harden did not just bring credibility back to the Houston franchise a year ago, he showed that he is one of the unstoppable scoring forces in the league and possesses that right stuff to rank with any offensive forces in the league, including those named LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

While Howard wants to be known and used and marketed and paid as a “franchise player,” in Houston he would not have to do it alone. He could play off Harden’s slashing ability and his excellent passing skills to once more be a scoring monster in the paint. While he would still be forced to fit in with a rehabbing Kobe Bryant and an aging Steve Nash with the Lakers, in Houston everything would be geared around him.

The Rockets can also offer a coach in Kevin McHale who comes with a Hall of Fame resume and perhaps the best low post fundamentals for a big men in the history of the game. McHale has been champing at the bit to play a game with an inside force, and would be an excellent teacher to tap into Howard’s skills and take him to the next level. What’s more, if Howard seeks more high level knowledge and assistance, Olajuwon still lives in the neighborhood and could provide occasional one-on-one tutorials.

There is also the benefit of Houston itself:...the fourth-largest city in the United States, but does not have the white-hot glare of living in the Hollywood spotlight. Howard could recapture some of the relative peace and quiet that he once had in Orlando, while not at all sacrificing his chance to play for NBA titles. The Rockets already have a pair of championship trophies in their case and are ready to think big again.












DALLAS MAVERICKS

If it’s all about bells and whistles and having the red carpet rolled out for Howard, nobody does the welcoming thing better than Mark Cuban.

If it’s about being made to feel that you are the biggest, shiniest, best new thing in the world, no place on the planet does that better than Big D.

Remember America’s Team? Howard could be America’s Center in Dallas and you can be sure that Cuban will spare no expense and spend every waking breath to proclaim it.

What’s more, if the goal is to pair up with another All-Star who could get him back to the NBA Finals and contending for a championship the fastest, Howard couldn’t find a more willing playing partner than Dirk Nowitzki.

While a 35-year-old Nowitzki is closer to the end of his career than 23-year-old James Harden in Houston, it means that Dirk and the Mavs have a greater sense of urgency than the Rockets. As soon as Howard signs on in Dallas, Cuban and team president Donnie Nelson will move heaven and earth to put the supporting cast in place.

Nowitzki has the experience and the know-how that it takes to win a championship. He understands the situation and at this point in his career, is willing to make the sacrifices to his own game to win another title. Dirk has won an MVP award in the regular season and The Finals and is not seeking individual accolades, just one more sip of champagne before retirement. A year after his game was curtailed following knee surgery, he’ll be back to his old tricks, which would mesh perfectly with a dominant inside force. With their size and their complementary styles, there might not be a better instant fit for Howard anywhere in the league. Playing with an accommodating Dirk could be more appealing to Howard than trying to sync up in Houston with a guard (Harden) who needs the ball in his hands.

Dirk’s advancing age also means that in just a few short years he’ll step aside, leaving Howard to stretch out inside the throne room of the franchise at a time when he’ll still be young enough for Cuban to reload. It is said that Howard likes the idea of having the baton passed to him. In addition, the Mavs could still have cap room in the summer of 2014 to pursue his next running mate.

When healthy, Howard is also the most dominant defensive force in the NBA and few coaches in the league place more of a premium and do a better job emphasizing and coaching defense than Rick Carlisle. Think back to what Carlisle was able to do with Tyson Chandler as the anchor in the middle when the Mavs went on their championship march in 2011. Then consider that Howard is a quantum leap forward as a defender.

Two years after blowing up his own championship team by allowing too many of the pieces to walk for financial reasons, Cuban has owned up to the mistake and is back in the business of trying to make a big splash by using his big, oversized personality.

If it’s about being made to feel special, nobody does that better than Cuban and Dallas.

 

ATLANTA HAWKS

The Hawks are hoping that the tug of home will give Howard reason to pass on the headaches and pressures in Los Angeles and skip both sites on that Texas two-step and become the face of the franchise just miles away from where he grew up in Southwest Atlanta, something Hawks general manager Danny Ferry would love to see happen.

There is no storied, championship history or Hall of Fame big man legacy for Howard to carry on here. But how big would he be if he were to come home and lead the Hawks to championship heights? He’d rank as the greatest athlete to call Atlanta home and rank somewhere right behind Martin Luther King Jr. on the list of Atlanta’s most beloved sons.

The Hawks boast a new coach, Mike Budenholzer, whose spent the past 17 years immersed in a system that should be the model for how to play to an elite big man’s strengths. The Spurs crafted their dynasty around Hall of Famer David Robinson first and then Tim Duncan after him. If Howard thinks the Lakers, under Mike D’Antoni, didn’t use him properly this season, he’d have no worries in a Budenholzer-crafted system that would revolve around him.

There is no ensemble cast already in place for Howard to join, no new set of oversized expectations for him to try to live up to if he were to come back to his hometown franchise, which is starting for a superstar anchor to lead them to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks offer a near blank canvas to work with on the roster, meaning they will fill out a crew that complements Howard the way his supporting cast in Orlando did when they played for a championship in 2009.

A fresh start in a familiar place could also come with some familiar faces as well. Howard and Hawks center/power forward Al Horford battled for years while playing competing against one another in the Southeast Division. They could be the devastating a 1-2 punch in the post that Howard and Pau Gasol never were with the Lakers. And if Howard really wants to have someone he trusts watching his back, he could suggest Ferry make sure that his pre-school classmate and longtime friend Josh Smith not be allowed to escape via free agency himself. That’s a frontline trio that would rival any other group in the league, including that crew in Brooklyn.

Howard’s insistence on not going somewhere and joining someone else’s team can only be fulfilled in one place, the only place he could truly call home.

 

"a bunch of teams are waiting on Dwight to figure out what it is he’s going to do," said a league source. "It’s free agency, you never know what might happen."

 

Steve Nash @SteveNash -- 1 Jul 2013

Flying from NYC to LA. @DwightHoward we're coming for you. You're going to love the statue we build for you outside Staples in 20yrs!

 

NBA blog:

One of the top two players on the free agent market this summer, along with Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul won’t bother flirting with the other teams that planned to pursue him and will instead end the process before it gets started.

Kudos to Paul for handling his business in this manner. He could have turned his decision-making process into a complete circus and made the rounds, just because he could.

 

NBA blog:

Howard is extremely sensitive about the sentiment that he’s some sort of “coach killer,” as he should be, because there are few tags more damaging to a superstar’s profile.

“That’s a tough thing to live down once you get it,” said one Western Conference executive. “That’s the knock on Dwight right now, whether he likes it or not. Everyone knows he’d had issues with his last two coaches and that’s why you know whatever is there with D’Antoni would have to be fixed before he could honestly think about staying with the Lakers. There’s no way around it.”

 

The Lakers can offer Howard a contract worth $118 million over five years. The Rockets and other suitors may offer no more than $88 million over four years...(however,) with the lack of a state income tax in Texas, Howard would net more over four years with the Rockets or Mavericks than in the first four years of a contract with the Lakers.

 

Clippers made Doc Rivers the highest-paid coach in the league, and has become a luxury tax team by committing over $200 million to its two stars

Chris Paul @CP3 - 1 Jul 2013
I'M IN!!! #CLIPPERNATION

 

Houston pulled out all the stops, sent this contingent to Los Angeles to woo Howard at a dinner presentation at the Hotel Bel-Air (USA Today Travel: Stars bring the glitz, but Hotel Bel-Air adds the glamour)...

--Kevin McHale, Houston coach -- Hall of Famer, 7-time NBA All-Star, 3-time Champ, # retired by Celtics

--Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler (10-time All-Star, 1-time Champ, # retired by Rockets) and Hakeem Olajuwon (12-time All-Star, 2-time Champ, # retired by Rocket) traveled from around the world for the meeting. Drexler flew in from Taiwan, arriving after a 13-hour flight Sunday afternoon. Olajuwon traveled from Jordan for the meeting.

--James Harden (1-time All-Star)

--long-distance video call from Yao Ming (8-time All-star)

--long-distance video call from Dikembe Mutombo (8-time All-star)

--Leslie Alexander -- billionaire, owner of the Rockets
--Tad Brown -- CEO of the Rockets
--Daryl Morey -- GM of the Rockets
--Keith Jones -- VP of the Rockets
--Gersson Rosas -- VP of the Rockets

They presented Howard with information about the marketing potential that comes with playing for the Rockets, still wildly popular in China with its enormous and avid fan base. ...about living and playing in Houston, about their new basketball facilities and the camaraderie and chemistry they believe they have with their players, past and present. ... (about) the franchise’s championship history and an infrastructure designed to give Howard a chance at multiple titles

McHale made it clear to Howard that he planned to build his system around him...The Rockets had long believed that McHale, a Hall of Fame power forward, would be an immense asset in the recruitment of Howard. Howard had never had a head coach that could identify with him so well, who could literally look him in the eyes.

(Rockets GM) Daryl Morey @dmorey -- 1 Jul 2013, 3:36 AM
Was gr8 meeting with @DwightHoward. Hakeem & Clyde there made it obvious how @DwightHoward & @JHarden13 could be the next gr8 big/wing combo

current Rockets James Harden and Chandler Parsons pitched Howard about how they wanted him as a teammate, how the chemistry of the locker room would welcome him.

The Rockets are coming off a 45-win season and a first-round playoff series when they pushed No. 1 seed Oklahoma City to six games.

“They’re building something great in Houston,” Thunder star Kevin Durant said after that series.

 

Dallas Mavericks beat writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dwain Price:

1h
Does Dwight Howard know the only team to beat Miami's Big 3 in a playoff series are the #Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki?

4h
If the #Rockets and #Lakers are reportedly offering Dwight Howard a TV show, what will Internet guru Mark Cuban offer him? The Internet?

1 Jul
"I actually want to be the leading spokesman for the Dwight Howard campaign.'' -- #Mavs rookie Shane Larkin (son of MLB Hall of Famer, 12-time All-Star, and 1-time Champ Barry Larkin)

30 Jun
Dallas-based Raising Canes will offer Dwight Howard free chicken finger meals for life if he signs a free agent contract with the #Mavs.

28 Jun
You ever wonder if the #Mavs will use any billboards or full-page ads in an attempt to get Dwight Howard?

28 Jun
#Cowboys-#Oilers/Texans. #Rangers-#Astros. Dallas and Houston have always been in competitive fights. Now the fight is on for Dwight Howard.

27 Jun
#Mavs F Dirk Nowitzki on Dwight Howard: "I reached out to him and told him we'd love to have him."