The NBA free agency is fast approaching and the almost all the teams are focusing on acquiring a centerpiece.
Half a decade ago, no team would hesitate on the chance to sign Dwight Howard. Even on his last free agency in 2013, even the Golden State Warriors were part of the race.
Now, the team he has chosen three years ago seems to have disowned him in favor of their new star, James Harden. Howard found it necessary to defend himself in a tell-all interview with ESPN.
"I felt like my role was being reduced. I went to [Rockets general manager] Daryl [Morey] and said, 'I want to be more involved.' Daryl said, 'No, we don't want you to be.' My response was, 'Why not? Why am I here?' It was shocking to me that it came from him instead of our coach. So I said to him, 'No disrespect to what you do, but you've never played the game. I've been in this game a long time. I know what it takes to be effective,"' Howard confided.
With all the bad publicity and his tarnished performance on the court, Howard's last appearance on Inside the NBA and this interview may be his effort to try and sell himself to teams again. Howard will most probably opt out instead of stay in Houston after this. He wants a max contract but are there teams willing to take a risk on him?
Because of the inflated salary cap reaching unprecedented levels, Howard still has a chance to cash in. The market could dictate the actual "max" that he could get-perhaps not his theoretical max of $30 million plus, but to match the $23 million he would have earned in Houston (but as year one of a longer deal), there are at least three teams who could roll the dice.
NBA rumor site Sir Charles In Charge named some teams who could give Howard the max cash.
The Dallas Mavericks have overachieved with Salah Mejri, Zaza Pachulia and Javale McGee as their center committee. However, Mark Cuban has always wanted a big name. He will not pass up a chance to land Howard even though it was three years late.
The Milwaukee Bucks has young, athletic players to man the wing positions but they really need a strong defensive presence in the middle. While they need to trade Greg Monroe to make this work (not a tough task with teams having ample cap space) they could gamble on Howard, a legitimate NBA finalist and three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Portland Trail Blazers have had their overachieving year after losing four of their five starters and their sixth man. Now, they could reward themselves by gambling on Howard. They have a solid backcourt tandem with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum giving ample room for Howard to show whatever he has left in the tank.
The Charlotte Hornets are worth mentioning but because of their free agent situation (four out of five starters entering free agency) they might not have financial flexibility to max Howard out.