NBA Trade Rumors: Houston Rockets Contacted Seven Teams About Dwight Howard

NBA trade rumors were swirling around Dwight Howard for the past couple of weeks. According to Fox Sports, there were at least seven teams that we know of in the National Basketball Association that contacted Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to see what it would take for them to acquire the All-Star center before the trade deadline. At the end of the day, no one made the Rockets a good enough offer, so Howard is staying right where he is.

The Houston Rockets are trying to figure out what they’re going to do with Dwight Howard, who has yet to figure out how to mesh with James Harden. The Georgia native has already decided that he’s going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season. He’s then going to seek a maximum contract because this could be his last chance at getting a big deal. The problem with that is that Howard is already 30-years-old and has 11 punishing seasons under his belt.

Earlier today, it was revealed that the Milwaukee Bucks came pretty close to trading for Dwight Howard. They were able to put together a package that pleased Daryl Morey, but when the Houston Rockets approached Howard about the deal, he refused by stating that he would not opt into the final year of his contract. That scared off the Bucks because they didn’t want to send away assets only to have Dwight walking away as a free agent in a couple of months.

The Atlanta Hawks were looking to shake things up. There were talks that they were willing to trade away Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, and Al Horford before the deadline because they were afraid that they would never be able to get past LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team set their sights on Dwight Howard, who reportedly told people that he would love to go play for his hometown team.

NBA trade rumors were all about Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge trying to put together all the assets that he has collected over the past couple of years so that his team could finally get a star player to build around. Ainge would have loved to pair up first time All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas with Dwight Howard, but he ultimately changed his mind. The Celtics were leery of signing Howard to a maximum deal due to his age and declining skills, so they opted to let the current roster go into the NBA Playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets surprised the NBA when they came pretty close to trading for Dwight Howard. The team feels that they can do some damage in the playoffs, so they wanted to make a big splash by upgrading their center position. Just like most of the other teams in the National Basketball Association, the Hornets were concerned about how expensive it is going to be to keep Howard after the season.

With the loss of Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls had a pretty thin front court. Only Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, and Pau Gasol were capable big men. Since they wanted to salvage the disappointing season, the Bulls considered adding Dwight Howard to the mix. With Jimmy Butler going down for a month with a knee injury, the belief is that the Bulls backed out before they might not even make the NBA Playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks are always looking for more talent, as team owner Mark Cuban wants to ensure that Dirk Nowitzki gets to compete for an NBA Championship until he decides to walk away from the league. Cuban might be one of the only owners that would be willing to overpay for Howard if it meant bringing another title to the Mavericks. At the end of the day, he opted to stick with Zaza Pachulia instead.

Miami Heat president Pat Riley wants to maximize the time that he has left with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh by chasing the NBA Championship hard. Bringing in Dwight Howard would have helped them do that because it is really difficult for defenses to cover three offensive threats. However, it appears that Riley backed off on the move because Bosh might need to sit out for the season again.

[Featured Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]