Dwight Howard was rumored to be in a number of NBA team’s trade plans prior to last Thursday’s deadline, but nothing ultimately came to fruition. However, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort from the Houston Rockets front office.
Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan, for reasons unknown, told ESPN’s Marc Stein that deals were done with more than one organization (assumed to be the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks).
The hangup in each situation was Howard’s unwillingness to give any semblance of assurance that he would opt into his contract at the end of the season should he be acquired. Howard essentially rendered himself a rental in the eyes of his suitors, which ruined all deals he was involved in.
According to Stein:
“The obvious stumbling block to a trade was how could a team justify giving up important assets for a player who was about to become a free agent in a few short months?
Not surprisingly, as the deadline approached, several teams called stating they had worked out the trade parameters with Houston for a Dwight deal but were not prepared to give up their assets unless Dwight agreed to opt in to the last year of his contract and forego free agency. Dwight declined.”
I’m not sure what the point of Fegan releasing this information publicly was, but there you have it. This development couldn’t have made the Rockets incredibly pleased, as it’s clear Howard is going to be asking for a king’s ransom to play basketball for the next five years.
Considering his track record of diva behavior and declining skill set, there’s no way he’s going to be worth the astronomical long-term deal he desires on the open market. But that isn’t going to stop him from trying, and there will undoubtedly be a team desperate for star power that surfaces and ultimately gives in to his absolutely outrageous and unwarranted demands.
