NBA Rumors: Four Teams Expected To Pursue Dwight Howard In Free Agency

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets are facing elimination in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in Oakland. Along with the Rockets potentially playing their last game of the season, Dwight Howard may be playing his last game for Houston.

Howard will be opting out of his contract with the Rockets this summer, and all indications point to the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year leaving the team in free agency. Dwight hasn’t exactly seen eye-to-eye with fellow star James Harden in Houston and this season that relationship seems to have hit a boiling point leading to a breakup this summer.

With Dwight likely leaving the Rockets this summer, a few potential destination have come to light. Howard has four suitors, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN:

Howard is not expected to have a role. It’s expected that he will become a free agent and seek a new team. Orlando, Milwaukee, Portland and Charlotte are the favorites.

Although Howard will have his fair share of interested teams once he’s officially a free agent this summer, the eight-time All-Star isn’t the hot commodity he once was. Dwight’s skills have fallen off since the last time he was on the free-agent market back in 2013 and might not be getting the desired offers come July.

Despite that fact, Howard will likely have a new home or ultimately return where it all began with the Orlando Magic. All four of the potential destinations mentioned are teams on the rise and could be that much better with the addition of the star center.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens moving forward, but one thing is for certain, Howard is no longer a star teams will build around. Dwight will be a secondary star for the rest of his career, and he must become content with that reality.