Houston pulls off a coup, teaming Howard with James Harden.
The most excruciating saga in the NBA is finally over. USA TODAY Sports’ Sam Amick reports that Dwight Howard has finally — finally — made up his mind and will leave the Los Angeles Lakers after one disastrous season to join James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
The move is unprecedented for a superstar of Howard’s caliber. He chose to leave the Lakers, who play in the second-biggest media market in the league, have 16 championships and could pay him $30 million more than their competition can. That’s unheard of. But it was absolutely the right move for Howard to make, from a basketball standpoint.
Howard’s decision radically alters the outlook of the Western Conference playoff picture. Depending on what other moves the Rockets make, we may be looking at a new favorite to dethrone the Miami Heat.
Howard’s grating immaturity and injury-plagued 2012-13 season with the Lakers can make it easy to forget that when he’s fully healthy, he is — at worst — the third-best player in the NBA. He’s a defensive beast and one of the deadliest pick-and-roll finishers in the league, and now he has Harden to partner with. This duo has the potential to be what Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming could have been if injuries hadn’t cut both of their careers short.
The best team Howard has ever played on was the 2008-09 Orlando Magic. That group made it all the way to the Finals by constructing an offense that surrounded Howard with shooters to make teams pay for doubling him. These Rockets will look to replicate that formula with better surrounding pieces. Harden is a better player than any of Howard’s teammates in Orlando, capable of scoring inside and out. Chandler Parsons is also a major threat on the perimeter.
Howard told Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in their meeting that he wants him to add a third star, preferably Howard’s childhood friend Josh Smith. To do this, Morey will have to execute a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks involving one or both of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, or move them elsewhere. It won’t be easy, but it’s doable.
A frontcourt of Howard and Smith would be one of the toughest defensive units in the league. Smith’s shot selection is questionable, but Rockets coach Kevin McHale is one of the greatest post players of all time and can help maximize Smith’s deadly post-up skills instead.
The Western Conference is far from decided in July, but the race for the top spot just got a little more crowded. The Oklahoma City Thunder look to be back strong with Russell Westbrook healthy. There’s no reason to believe the defending conference champion San Antonio Spurs are going anywhere, having re-signed Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili. The Los Angeles Clippers will be stronger than ever, having not only re-signed Chris Paul but added J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley. And the Golden State Warriors will be major players as well, after their stunning acquisition of Andre Iguodala.
But with Howard in the fold, Houston has as good a chance as anybody. As deep as the Western Conference was last season, it’s even tougher now.
As for the Lakers, it’s unclear what happens next. For the upcoming season, their roster is built around three aging, injured and highly-paid superstars who are past their primes in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. Bryant might not even be back for the start of the regular season as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon. Maybe Andrew Wiggins can save them.
For Howard, though, this was the right call. He’s going to a talented young team with another superstar to take pressure off him, the perfect coach to maximize his strengths and the smartest front office in the league. If championships truly are the most important thing to him, the Rockets are a better bet than a Lakers team in disarray with a coach he doesn’t like and a superstar he couldn’t mesh with. Howard may have sacrificed the immortality and branding opportunities that come with winning a championship in Los Angeles, but he also went to a team that’s more likely to get there in the next four years.
This is going to be fun
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