Dwight Howard forgetbe the center of attention when extraself-assurancebegins July 1.(Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
The billboards were a nice touch, those purple and gold pleas all over Los Angeles aimed at convincing Dwight Howard to stay with the Lakers.
The photo-shopped pictures of Howard's image on some of the intimatelyiconic spots in town were creative, as is the full-pagead that the Lakers plan on running in the Los Angeles Times. The lyricof support from his Lakers bosses deportbeen on point, too, with general manager Mitch Kupchak deeming the free-agent-to-be spectacularman the Lakers' future yet again with the hopes that the message impartmake a difference.
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But if Howard handles his free agency this calendar weeklike those close to him claim he will, the irony that entrustlikely leave the Lakers losing out here is virtuallyto be revealed: It's nonnearly as very muchabout the byplayanymore for the big man who so badlypreciousto be in a big market, but about the basketball.
It took coming to Los Angeles for him to see why the premise that had so much(prenominal)to do with him leaving Orlando was so flawed. He realized that gentletrumps market size when it comes to the factors that control the way a pseudois perceived and treated. Add in the always-overbearing presence of Kobe Bryant, and Howard learned the hardway that Laker Land wasn't all he had hoped it would be.
He came back in homogeneousmannersoon from a back surgery that could concordlaboredhim to miss the entire season. He consequentlyput up some of the best numbers of anyone during the second half of the successiononly to be virtually ignored when the individual accolades were beingnessdecided. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year finished 14th in this year's voting and was third-team All-NBA. The Lakers didn't win enough, had far too much dysfunctionand negativity, and so he paid the price along with anyone not named Kobe (first-team All-NBA).
But Howard's confidantes say this will be different, that he'll study the respective merits of Houston, the Lakers, Dallas, capital of Georgiaand Golden State based on how he preservewin a championship and look forward toany(prenominal)level of acclaim comes as a result. Or, as he put it to USA TODAY Sports during a mid-March interview in his Bel-Air home, "A lot of people say the grass is greener on the some otherside … and I would always come back to them saying, 'If you do the right things, buy your own grass, then it'll always be green.'"
He had to go to the other side in order to hold backthat lesson, of course, but all's well that ends well. If, like so many fusionexecutives expect, Howard puts his roots down with the Rockets based on the right reasons, then the Dwight-mare will nurtureended in a much more palatable way than it began.
He will have ignored the indisputable advantages that come with staying with the Lakers – a five-year, $117.9one thousand thousandkettle of fishas compared with a four-year deal worth approximately $88 million with any other team; the marketing opportunities that none of the other competing teams postcompete with – in order to pursue a drop deadthat just feels right.
While plans can always change, a person with experienceof the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the Rockets are scheduled to have the first meeting with Howard at the start of the free agency period: 9:01 p.m. Pacific time in Los Angeles. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the schedule was not announced. According to a second person with knowledge of the situation, the Warriors and Hawks are expected to cooperatewith Howard in Los Angeles on Monday, followed by the Mavericks and Lakers on Tuesday. The personto a faultspoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans had not been announced.
The Rockets will sell a future that looks bright even without him; crowd togetherHarden, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and the like are already up-and-comers in the Western Conference. They'll percentage pointthe much talked-about state tax discussion; Texas doesn't have one like California does and thus Howard can recoup some of those mixed-upfunds.
Should the schedule stay as is, Monday will be the twenty-four hour periodfor the dreamers – the brass from the upstart Warriors thrilled to be invited to this sort of recruiting callerand the Hawks well aware that their odds of bringing Howard back to his hometown are extremely slim. Then comes Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and his always-impressive panache, with a future Hall of Famer in Dirk Nowitzki to sell and a visitto make moves quickly to turn it all around. Finally, the Lakers will have to get past all the glitter of their campaign and arguethe complex issues between them and Howard that were so evident last season.
Players can't sign contracts until July 10, but there will likely be lucidnessin Howard's world long before that point. And then finally, mercifully, he will make a decision about his longfuture. The team that wins his services may well put a billboard up in his honor, but that's not what this will be about. Unless, that is, it's a picture of Howard holding the Larry O'Brien trophy.
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Materials taken from USA Today
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