Former Rockets superstar regrets decision to join franchise

In the 2012 offseason, the Houston Rockets needed a makeover. The 2011-12 team was a disjointed group that nearly made the playoffs, even though the Tracy McGrady-Yao Ming tandem was already finished.

The Rockets needed a new duo.

But as usual, few stars were available.

Then Rockets GM Daryl Morey made a deal with Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti that sent James Harden to Houston in exchange for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and draft capital . Harden’s first year was a success, as the Rockets went 45-37, good enough for eighth and final place in the Western Conference.

After falling to the OKC Thunder in six games, the front office realized the need to give Harden a co-star.

Rockets executives have set their sights on Dwight Howard, who opted out of his final year with the Los Angeles Lakers to become an unrestricted free agent. The Rockets went after Howard and eventually landed him, giving him a four-year contract worth $88 million.

By signing with the Rockets, Howard left $30 million on the table, with only the Lakers able to offer him a fifth and final year. Howard wanted to leave the Lakers that bad.

However, Howard’s time with the Rockets was not very successful, as the Rockets were eliminated by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2013 playoffs in the first year of the Howard-Harden duo.

The Rockets’ best season with Howard came in 2014-15, as they made it to the Western Conference Finals, although much of their success came without Howard, who missed half of the season.

The 2015-16 season was a lost year, as the team fired coach Kevin McHale after just 11 games. The Rockets limped into the playoffs with a 41-41 record, but weren’t ready to win a deep title.

Howard opted out of the final year of his contract at the end of the season as reports emerged of tension and friction between him and Harden.

Looking back, Howard said he never would have joined the Rockets if he had the opportunity to start over, while still making an appearance on the court. Above the edge podcast.

“It was really tough, man. It was really tough because I’m like it’s a young James Harden and the situation in Houston.

I feel like I have a team with James, Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons, this young core, and I have a chance to grow with them as a veteran.

Or do I stay in Los Angeles or go to Golden State? »

Howard continued, explaining what exactly made him join the Rockets.

“What really touched me was the fact that I was going to be able to work with one of my favorite players of all time: Hakeem Olajuwon. So I tell myself that I will be in Houston, there has no state tax Daryl Morey did a good job convincing me.

It was a tough decision, man, and looking back on it, I made an emotional decision. It wasn’t good.”

Howard elaborated further.

“It’s something that I wish I could look back on and I could say to myself ‘let me make this decision wisely and weigh everything.

I don’t think I really weighed my decision very well at that time. I think my emotions got the better of me because I was already at my lowest point after having to leave Orlando and then come to the Lakers and we didn’t make it.

I sit down and look like dang. If I had truly cherished those moments with Kobe as a teammate, and what it could have been like if we had two, three, four years together playing basketball and how much better I would have gotten.

All sorts of things could have happened. I think it would have been a different story.”

Howard joined the Lakers in 2019-20 as a reserve big man and won a championship.

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