With all the free agency movements the scope was temporarily moved off of Dwight Howard. Â But the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets haven’t forgotten about him and are still working on possible trade options with the Orlando Magic. Â Read more after the jump.
Before the Draft, the Houston Rockets were rumored to be stockpiling picks in an attempt to swing a deal for Magic big man Dwight Howard. That didn’t happen, but the Rockets haven’t given up, even as free agency has carried on and DH has reportedly ruled out signing long-term with every NBA team not located in Brooklyn. Per CBS: “The Houston Rockets continue to push hard to acquire draft picks and cap space in an effort to provide a package of assets that will entice the Orlando Magic to trade Dwight Howard, league sources told CBSSports.com Saturday. One of the reasons Houston traded point guard Kyle Lowry to Toronto for what essentially is a guaranteed lottery pick was to sweeten the pot in a potential Howard trade, sources said. In discussions with the Knicks, Heat and now Nets about a sign-and-trade for Marcus Camby, the Rockets are hoping to accumulate more picks to make their trade package for Howard more attractive. ‘The Rockets are definitely trying to make some sort of huge trade,’ said a person briefed on Houston’s plans. ‘That’s why they’re trading all these things to get a bunch of picks. That’s what they’re up to.’ … According to a person familiar with Orlando’s plans, the same teams remain in the mix for a possible Howard deal: the Lakers, Nets, Rockets, Hawks and Mavericks. There has been no indication, however, from Howard or his agent, Dan Fegan, that the All-Star center is willing to relax his insistence on signing a long-term deal only with the Nets if traded.â€
The Rockets haven’t given up the pursuit of Dwight Howard, and according to CBS, neither have the Nets, who are still hoping to move Brook Lopez and a bunch of Draft picks in exchange for the Orlando big man. More details: “As negotiations continue on multiple fronts on a possible Dwight Howard trade, the Brooklyn Nets are trying to assemble a package including at least three first-round picks to land the All-Star center, multiple sources told CBSSports.com. If there is a deal to be made between the Nets and Magic, the most likely scenario would involve center Brook Lopez going to Orlando and a signed-and-traded Kris Humphries going to a third team, one of the sources said. In the most likely Nets-Magic trade scenario, one of the first-round picks would come from a third team. The Nets have their own first-round picks to offer in alternate years under league rules, but if they added Howard to Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, those picks almost certainly would be in the bottom third of the draft for the foreseeable future. Word began circulating in NBA front-office circles Saturday night that the Nets were trying to put together a package that included as many as five first-round picks for Howard. But a person briefed on the discussions described the notion of the Nets funneling more than three first-round picks to Orlando as ‘unrealistic.’ Orlando isn’t solely interested in draft picks and young players in a Howard trade, but also cap relief from a team willing to absorb the contracts of Hedo Turkoglu and/or Jason Richardson.â€
