July 1st officially kicks off NBA free agency and one of the most important times in Dwight Howard’s life. It’s the first time he’ll get to decide his own professional destiny and there’s several factors in how he’ll make his decision. During his tour he’ll visit five different teams and make his official decision on July 10th. Read more after the jump.
The Houston Rockets will be first up Sunday night, followed by the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks in some order, and ending with the Los Angeles Lakers, at the Lakers’ request.
“The meetings are not scheduled by preference,” said the source. “And Howard respected the Lakers’ wish to go last.
As Howard embarks on a whirlwind free agency process that will feature sit-down sessions with at least five teams, his main priority, according to a source close to the nine-year veteran, is finding a destination that will help him win a championship of a different sort.
After feeling the shine of the Finals stage four years ago, Howard desperately wants to get back to the pinnacle with a team that will not only deliver him his first title, but put him in a situation to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season on multiple occasions.
The one leg up the Lakers have on the competition is the financial incentive of being able to offer a max five-year, $118 million contract as opposed to a four-year, $88 million deal. But Howard’s championship-or-bust priority all but levels the playing field. The real compensation he’s after is rings.
