Sources: New trade offer in works
By Marc Stein and Chad Ford
ESPN.com
The Houston Rockets have reconstructed their trade proposal to the Orlando Magic for superstar center Dwight Howard, vowing to take back even more long-term salary from the Magic than before in hopes of convincing Orlando to consent to trade Howard directly to Houston, according to sources briefed on the trade talks.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Rockets, should they go ahead with their widely reported plans to release starting power forward Luis Scola via the NBA's amnesty clause, are prepared to absorb the contracts of Jason Richardson, Glen Davis and Chris Duhon -- in addition to sending Orlando multiple future first-round picks and recent draftees -- to give the Magic an opportunity to wipe their payroll virtually clean for their post-Howard rebuilding effort.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is feverishly trying to construct a trade that will allow the Rockets to take back, in addition to Howard, some combination of Richardson, Davis, Duhon and Hedo Turkoglu. The Rockets believe that, with Scola's three remaining seasons valued at roughly $21 million off the books, that they can create the requisite cap space to do so.
Friday thus looms as a pivotal day in the Rockets' all-out quest to trade for Howard. Not only is Houston expected to formally waive Scola on Friday, but sources say that the Rockets will also finalize their long-awaited offer sheet to New York Knicks restricted free agent Jeremy Lin. The Knicks have been adamant that they will match Houston's four-year offer to Lin valued at just under $29 million, but they can take three days to do so once Lin signs.
The Rockets have also committed a four-year offer sheet worth just over $25 million to Chicago Bulls restricted free agent Omer Asik. It's believed that the Rockets will make Asik's offer sheet official after the Knicks match on Lin, but Asik's fate is less certain, with the Bulls said to be wavering on whether to bring the bruising big man back. The Rockets promised offer sheets to Asik and Lin early in free agency -- and are thus honor-bound to go through with them to ensure that they'll suffer no future repercussions from agents or players in free agency -- but it's possible that Houston is secretly rooting for both offer sheets to be matched. In that scenario, Houston would only be left with more cap space to try to get the Orlando trade done, which is clearly its No. 1 priority.
Rockets officials, though, remain steadfast in their belief that, even if the Bulls decline to match on Asik, that they'll be able to absorb at least three of the four aforementioned Magic role players: Richardson, Davis, Duhon and Turkoglu. Sources say that the Rockets would have to send Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris and Chandler Parsons to the Magic from their current roster to make the salary-cap math work, as well the draft rights to Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones, all selected in last month's first round.
The Rockets, in addition, would also have to waive a handful of players with non-guaranteed contracts (Shaun Livingston, Courtney Fortson, Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, Jon Leuer, Diamon Simpson and Greg Smith) to clear sufficient cap space. But Houston, sources say, is also offering multiple first-round picks to the Magic, including a potential lottery pick acquired this week from Toronto in the Kyle Lowry deal. Future picks are known to hold great appeal to new Magic general manager Rob Hennigan and no team in the recent running for Howard -- Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Lakers are the other two top suitors -- has a first-rounder of that caliber to send to Orlando.
Yet sources with knowledge of Orlando's thinking told ESPN's Ric Bucher and ESPN.com's J.A. Adande on Thursday night that the Magic expect a quiet weekend on the Howard front and likely won't revisit the prospect of trading Howard until next week. Of course, such a delay might well be tied to the fact that Houston has to let its dealings with Lin and Asik play out first.
ESPN reported Thursday that Hennigan called the All-Star center Wednesday night to see if he'd reconsider giving Orlando's new regime a chance to keep him, but a source close to Howard told Bucher that the All-Star center was unwilling to change his stance.
The Nets, who remain the only team that Howard has said he'll sign a contract extension with, finally backed away from their months-long pursuit of Howard on Wednesday to sign center Brook Lopez -- one of their key trade chips for any Howard deal -- to a four-year deal valued at slightly more than $60 million. The Nets can't re-enter the Howard Sweepstakes, assuming they last that long, until Jan. 15, when Lopez is eligible to be traded.
The Rockets, meanwhile, continue to ignore the strong signals that Howard refuses to commit to Houston long-term and will threaten instead to just play out next season and head to free agency in July 2013 if Morey does manage to complete a trade for him. The Los Angeles Lakers remain interested in a Howard deal as well, but the Lakers don't have the available future draft picks or the financial flexibility to take on Orlando's unwanted contracts like the Rockets do, meaning that L.A. would almost certainly need an additional team or two to join the trade to get it pushed through.
The Rockets have been discussing a multitude of trade scenarios with the Magic this month, offering to serve both as the team that would acquire Howard in a direct trade between the clubs and also as a third team that would participate in a trade that lands Howard with the Lakers and brings Bynum to Houston.
Now, though, Houston appears to be lasered in on getting Howard at all costs, which would potentially fill their void in the middle since the early injury-forced retirement of Yao Ming in 2011. If Howard could be convinced to stay in Houston after such a swap, it would also more than atone from the collapsed three-way deal with the New Orleans Hornets and Lakers in December that would have landed Pau Gasol in Houston if NBA commissioner David Stern, acting as the lead decision-maker for the league-owned Hornets, hadn't cancel the trade.
It's been an open secret around the league for months that the Rockets were willing to trade for a player of Howard's or Bynum's caliber with no assurance that either one will sign an extension as opposed to becoming a free agent in 2013. Houston's posture, sources said, remains one of confidence that any top-20 player it can acquire will be convinced to stay once he becomes part of the organization.
Sources say that Hennigan, meanwhile, would be more comfortable with taking back a package of youngsters, recent draftees and future first-round draft picks -- while shedding all that long-term salary as well -- than taking on All-Star center Andrew Bynum as Howard's replacement. Although Bynum is the best individual player Orlando has been offered this month, he's also entering the final year of his contract like Howard, which means that the Magic would be in a similar position as they are now with Howard if they traded Bynum and Bynum refused to sign an extension.
Bucher reported Wednesday that the Atlanta Hawks continue to pursue Howard via trade as well, but one source described Atlanta as "not the best option" for the Magic.
