Dwight Howard (Photo : Twitter)
Dwight Howard caused a stir for two straight summers, and eventually ended up with the Houston Rockets.
A player option in his contract will make him a free agent at the end of the 2015 - 2016 season, right when the salary cap takes an unprecedented hike.
It may be argued that Dwight Howard is in the perfect set-up with Houston. James Harden is now the man, he can carry them to the playoffs by himself. However, is the Rockets fail to make any headway for the title, D12 might be looking around as pointed out by a forum post in Real GM.
User tranjSAIC: "He was happy in Orlando too until the championship potential was gone, if Houston can't offer him a legit chance I can see him wanting to leave again. BUT in two years will Dwight even be worth it? I don't think he has been the same dominate player he was while he was down in Orlando. Part of it is his back injury, part of it is the bad coaching and part of it is, his game just doesn't translate well as he gets older."
Dwight Howard's game was discussed extensively by Sports On Earth. The big question is whether D12 will still elicit the same attention as he did in 2012. And if he does, is it worth it?
One major issue is Howard's lack of post moves. D12 relies on being the fastest, most athletic center (even undersized at that). He's already 30 now, and those superlatives will soon fade. Will his game even evolve? Even if it doesn't teams need interior defense and Howard is still valuable even if that's all he offers.
It is also noteworthy that the success of the Rockets are based on acquiring a third star after the Howard-Harden pairing. They failed to nab Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony, and even with an MVP level James Harden, the Rockets could not win it all. One can argue that the team as currently constructed has reached its ceiling.
Teams in the East that strike out on Kevin Durant will covet him. Some examples are the Boston Celtics, and the usual suspects New York Knicks, so get set for another "Dwightmare" next summer.
