While it seemed impossible when it was first reported, it sounds like the Los Angeles Clippers won’t be going after free agent Dwight Howard this summer.
A report came out two weeks ago about the Clippers potentially freeing up enough cap space in order to pursue Howard and pair him with Chris Paul. However, Ramona Shelburne from ESPNLA reports that Howard won’t be moving across the hall:
You can cross Clippers off list of Dwight suitors, btw. Not happening for multiple reasons, according to sources
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 20, 2013
It was always difficult to imagine Howard playing for the Clippers, but the intrigue of playing with Paul and Blake Griffin was reason alone to create speculation. In order to entertain the idea of signing Howard, the Clippers would need to clear significant cap space especially center DeAndre Jordan’s contract.
Jordan was the subject of trade rumors at the trade deadline in a package for Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, and there were talks that those trade talks would be rekindled this summer. However, after going through the PR nightmare during his exit from Orlando, Howard would be subject to a lot of scrutiny if he suited up for LA’s “other team”.
—- See Dwight Howard through the years in photos! —-
Howard’s free agency will be the center of talk in LA as it was reported over the weekend that he’s intrigued by the idea of playing for the Houston Rockets.
While he’s been quiet since the Lakers were eliminated by the Spurs in the first round, Howard did say that he plans to take his time before making his decision.
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Lakers as they head into the off-season as Kobe Bryant tries to recover from his Achilles injury and questions remains of whether or not the team will undergo significant change after a disappointing season.
Cross the Clippers off the list of suitors as the summer of Dwight is just about to get underway.
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