Rockets hit Howard with best sales pitch
LOS ANGELES – With opening day – or late night – of free agency shopping underway, the Rockets threw out the first sales pitch.
After years spent pursuing Dwight Howard in trades, months reshaping the roster to chase him as a free agent and weeks of preparations for this moment, the Rockets made their case that he would be best served to join them and their young, rising team.
For all they had prepared to discuss, described by an individual familiar with the preparations as “everything and anything you can think of,” the plan was to emphasize one point more than any other.
“It’s pretty simple,” said another individual familiar with the pitch. “For him, the best chance to win championships is in Houston. Period.”
Batting leadoff in the competition to win Howard, the Rockets delegation gathered throughout the day Sunday in Beverly Hills to make their case directly to the player they have long hoped to make the next franchise center.
At 9:01 p.m. Los Angeles time, the first moment that teams can express official interest in free agents, Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted: “Free agency kicking off! Hoping to meet with @DwightHoward tonight.”
At 9:14, the Rockets contingent left the Wilshire in a Mercedes luxury van for their meeting at another hotel.
They prepared information about the marketing potential that comes with playing for the Rockets, still wildly popular in China with its enormous and avid fan base. They were ready to present information about living and playing in Houston, about their new basketball facilities and the camaraderie and chemistry they believe they have with their players, past and present.
Kevin McHale, who has yearned for a low post threat since signing on as Rockets coach, was on hand to present not only how Howard would be used in a retooled offense more to his and McHale’s liking, but how McHale believed he could help his game.
There were books and an Ipad with much of the information presented to be left with Howard and his representatives, along with video testimonials from, among others, Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo.
The Rockets hoped, however, that their greatest advantage would be their potential to become contenders by adding Howard in the middle.
Howard has repeatedly insisted that his primary objective in free agency is to find the team with the best championship potential. Considering themselves to be in the strongest position in that measure, the Rockets sought to make their case that they also would be positioned to make improvements even after signing a second player to a max contract.
The youngest team in the NBA last season, the Rockets were prepared to argue that they would keep their young core untouched and would still have the salary cap exceptions and first-round picks in coming seasons. The youth, in comparison to the Lakers with 34-year-old Kobe Bryant and the Mavericks with 35-year-old Dirk Nowitzki, was expected to be a point of emphasis. James Harden will be 24 next season, Chandler Parsons 25.
Harden and Parsons, their best player and team captain, respectively, have become friends with Howard over the years and were part of the presentation.
Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon traveled from around the world for the meeting. Drexler flew in from Taiwan, arriving after a 13-hour flight Sunday afternoon. Olajuwon traveled from Jordan for the meeting. (His appearance at the NBA Draft on Thursday was added to his itinerary after the Rockets let the NBA know they were flying him in for the meeting with Howard.)
Along with their players representing their championship teams and their current team, the Rockets brought most of the franchise’s top decision makers; owner Leslie Alexander, president Tad Brown, general manager Daryl Morey, vice president and athletic trainer Keith Jones and executive vice president Gersson Rosas.
Howard is expected to move on to meetings with representatives of the Hawks and Warriors on Monday, and with the Mavericks and Lakers on Tuesday.
Despite ambivalence about Howard in Los Angeles after his one season with the Lakers, a season Howard had called “like a nightmare,” the Lakers have made signing Howard their top priority.
The Lakers can offer a contract worth $118 million over five years. The Rockets and other suitors may offer no more than $88 million over four years. The difference might not be an issue. Howard has indicated in the past that he might prefer a four-year contract, or an opt-out after four years with the Lakers, to become a free agent again when the NBA’s new television deals and potentially a new collective bargaining agreement begin.
With the lack of a state income tax in Texas, Howard would net more over four years with the Rockets or Mavericks than in the first four years of a contract with the Lakers.
The Rockets plan, however, was primarily to make the case that Howard could win championships with them, a plan years in the making.
