Houston Rockets trade rumors: No go for Howard to Celtics as price too steep; Harden: 'no control' over Howard trade
Despite the NBA All-Star Weekend granting teams a lull for the season, the momentum for the trading buzz has not gone into a standstill for some, especially the Houston Rockets and their center Dwight Howard.
According to league sources as told to Yahoo! Sports, the Rockets' front office have already began setting shop for teams interested for a Howard trade market.
The 6-foot-11 big man is already in his 12-season on the NBA and is supposedly being forecasted to opt-out in his four-year contract with the Rockets. Howard signed a four-year $88 million contract after leaving the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013.
The contract as stipulated reportedly furnished Howard with two options for the 2016-2017 season: he can remain as a member of the Rockets for the next season or he can take his basketball skills to another team. The air of ambiguity between Howard and the management, as league sources surmise, has geared the latter for an unfailing action: to get something of value for their asset rather than lose him while getting nothing in return.
Howard maybe a shell of his former self during his Superman-Orlando Magic days but the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year is still highly ranked on the pedestal of prized free agents, according to Hoops Hype.
The Rockets have fallen way beyond the imagined footing in the Western Conference. A recent loss to the Portland Trailblazers last Thursday have booted them out of the eighth spot for the play-off race, giving them something grim to ponder for the All-Star break. The Rockets are now horribly bannering a 27-28 win-loss card, a far-cry from last season's 56-26 crusade wherein they earned the second spot in the regular season for the West.
Recent reports have indicated that a trade scenario for Howard is being cooked up by both the Rockets and the Boston Celtics. However, as mentioned by league sources to 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich as per CBS Boston, the Celtics has backed down from the offer as the asking price involved the coveted two first-round lottery picks for 2016 and the following players: David Lee, Jonas Jerebko or Marcus Smart.
In an interview with Rockets shooting guard in USA Today prior to the All-Star Weekend, James Harden voiced-out his two-cents for his teammate as the team moves forward.
"It's out of my control, so I just focus on what I can control," he said. "This weekend I'm having a good time, so I'm not really worried about that."