Dwight Howard to Houston?

   Finally, it's over....... Not so fast! "The Decision" of Dwight Howard's future team is getting close. It was reported earlier in the week that Dwight would be making his big decision on Friday July 5th, and he was down to 5 teams, The Lakers (current team), Houston, Golden State, Dallas, and the Hawks. Late Friday afternoon reports had come out that Dwight had decided to take his talents to H-Town (Houston) but later sources have come out and said he is "50-50" on the Lakers.

 Are the Rockets better off with Howard? Well, they're replacing 10 points, 11.7 rebounds,1 block per game that they got from Omer Asik (2012-13 stats), with 17 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game from Howard(2012-13 stats with Lakers). Not a bad upgrade.

Are the Rockets favorites in the Western Conference with Howard? A team that was a 7 seed just this past season that took the Oklahoma City Thunder to the edge and back with a very sub-par roster, minus "The Great Beard" James Harden who had a spectacular season. I believe this gives them the boost that they are looking for, and help Howard out as well. He doesn't have to be under the pressure of the "Laker greats" and fans anymore, he doesn't have to play with a coach which he was clearly having issues with. He now gets to play with a younger group led by Harden, Chandler Parsons who showed signs of greatness during the season, but one thing that concerns me is Jeremy Lin.

 Lin had a good story in New York, they were having a pretty up and down season, the team had been plagued by injury and they needed someone to step up and that person was Jeremy Lin "Lin-sanity". He played outstanding for all of two weeks and I believe he is a good player but he's no All-Star in the NBA, sorry! I believe that if Howard was to go play in Houston they would still need one more piece to be a top 3 team, OKC will be the favorites with Westbrook coming off of his injury, the Clippers look to be in the top 3 in the west after bringing over Doc Rivers from the Celtics, also while re-signing their number one off-season priority PG, Chris Paul. And you have to go with the Spurs who are coming off of a tough loss in the NBA finals and have been able to retain the same nucleus   . At best the Rockets even with Howard would be a 5 seed in this tough western conference. So are they really getting a good deal with him?

Howard has been taking a lot of criticism since asking to be traded from Orlando after getting his coach (Stan Van Gundy) removed from his position. He suffered a very serious back injury just two season ago and has had shoulder issues as well, but when healthy Howard is still the best center in the league, he led the league in rebounds 4 seasons, blocks 2 seasons, Field goal percentage 1 season, he is also a 3 time Defensive Player of the Year. Howard, who is still in his physical prime has a big decision to make and one that could indeed change his NBA legacy. Does he stay side by side with Kobe in LA or go to play with the young talent with Harden in Houston? I think only Howard knows the answer at this point.