Does Dwight Howard Need A Change of Scenery?
By Adam McGee
Prioritizing Young Pieces
As I already mentioned, Daryl Morey and the rest of the Houston front office and coaching staff have big decisions to make in regards to players on expiring deals.
Although the place of both men in the Houston pecking order seems to fluctuate significantly from month to month, both Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are promising young players who have proven themselves to be very capable.
With the way Houston’s roster is currently constructed, the chances of them being able to keep both, if even one of those two young guns are a little on the slim side. That’s exactly why rumors about the futures of Jones and Motiejunas are everywhere you look right now.
Looking at the team’s current predicament, are they really close enough to contending to be able to afford losing some of their best young talent?
Obviously the return would play a significant part in any talk of a potential deal, but the value of expiring contracts has changed in the NBA. How much is any team really going to be prepared to give up for high quality rotational players, when there is always the possibility of facing up to an extortionate offer sheet from a more desperate rival when free agency rolls around?
It wasn’t too long ago that it felt like the Rockets had a sustainable long-term contender, yet as good as Trevor Ariza has been at times, do the Rockets not regret letting Chandler Parsons walk away?
Looking at solutions that allow them to keep and reward at least one of the two goes a long way towards creating a stable core for the future that Harden and the Rockets can work with. If moving Howard can get them to a place where cap space grows more flexible, that may be an option worth exploring.
Next: Different Timelines