Dwight Howard will not come home after all.
Howard told the Hawks on Friday that he had eliminated them as a destination. General manager Danny Ferry told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Howard delivered the news with a phone call. Howard, an unrestricted free agent center who played at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, met with five teams earlier this week. He retreated to the mountains with his advisors Wednesday to make a decision.
Earlier in the day, Howard also informed the Mavericks and Warriors that he would be signing elsewhere. Then Howard informed his old team. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak issued a statement Friday night in which he said, “We have been informed of Dwight’s decision not to return to the Lakers, and naturally we are dispasponted.”
That left the Rockets as the final team in the Dwight Howard Sweepstakes. As of late Friday, they had not announced that Howard was coming there.
USA Today was the first of several media outlets to report that Howard decided to leave the Lakers for the Rockets. General manager Daryl Morey tweeted early Friday evening that the Rockets “are excited & cautiously optimistic @DwightHoward might choose Houston, we have not yet heard about his decision.”
Late Friday night, Howard changed his Twitter avatar to a picture of himself wearing a Rockets uniform. He tweeted the following: “I’ve decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets. I feel its (sic) the best place for me and I am excited about joining the Rockets and I’m looking forward to a great season. I want to thank the fans in Los Angeles and wish them the best.”
Ferry described Howard as respectful - to co-owner Bruce Levenson, new head coach Mike Budenholzer and himself - during the process.
“It was a very well managed process,” Ferry told the AJC. “I appreciated that the level of communicaton between the Hawks, the agent and the player was done well. We will continue to move forward with our plan to build a strong foundation and successful team. There are many paths to getting there.”
Late Friday night the Hawks agreed to two-year deals with former Jazz players Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll.
The Lakers were able to offer Howard the biggest deal, a maximum of five years and $118 million. They brought in Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash as part of their pitch to Howard. The Hawks, Rockets and Mavericks were able to offer a maximum of four years and $88 million. The Warriors needed to work a sign-and-trade deal.
The Rockets, considered by many to be the favorite to land Howard all along, continued to make their case early Friday. Actor Jim Parsons, the star of the TV series “The Big Bang Theory,” made a video urging Howard to pick Houston. Morey tweeted a link to the video.
The Warriors were busy Friday trying to make a move up the coast more attractive to Howard. Multiple media outlets reported that the Warriors agreed to a deal with free agent Andre Iguodala, clearing the necessary salary-cap space by sending the expiring contracts of Andris Biedrins, Richard Jefferson and Brandon Rush to the Jazz.
With a decision from Howard, the Hawks can turn their attention to filling out their roster and potentially landing a center elsewhere. One possible scenario is that the Hawks could be in the mix for a sign-and-trade involving the Rockets and Omer Asik. The Hawks could use Josh Smith, an unrestricted free agent, in such a deal. ESPN reported that Asik has no interest in being a backup in Houston.
With Al Jefferson reportedly agreeing to a deal with the Bobcats on Thursday, the pool of free-agent centers is dwindling. The Hawks could take a chance on Andrew Bynum, an unrestricted free agent who did not play last season because of knee problems. They also could make an offer to restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic.
The Hawks may elect to keep Al Horford at center and save their salary-cap space for next season. Re-signing Zaza Pachulia, who is rehabbing from a partially torn Achilles tendon, could provide a veteran backup until draft picks Lucas Nogueira or Mike Muscala are ready.
The Hawks have options, and now that Howard is going elsewhere, they can begin to explore them in earnest.
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