Sport
‘Superman’ Howard leaves LA for Houston
‘Superman’ Howard leaves LA for Houston
Reuters/Los Angeles
Dwight Howard’s move from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Rockets was not officially rubber-stamped by Houston on Wednesday, though a flood of completed deals were confirmed with the NBA lifting its moratorium on new business. |
On what is generally known as ‘Signing Day’, some of the league’s biggest names changed uniforms as the league set its salary cap for the coming season at $58.67 million. The occasion, however, was anti-climatic with most of the deals completed days earlier and only the formality of signing on the dotted line remaining.
Andrea Bargnani, Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith were among the high-profile names finding new homes while All-Star point guard Chris Paul re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul was quick to get his name on a new five-year, $107-million contract, officially inking his deal one minute after the moratorium was lifted at midnight.
Center Andrew Bynum agreed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a two-year, $24-million deal. Bynum had been traded from the Lakers to Philadelphia last season but failed to play one game for the 76ers because of knee issues.
Howard, a seven-time All-Star center, was the prize free agent on the market and attracted the attention of several suitors before settling on Houston. Even though the Rockets remained quiet on Wednesday, Howard’s signing was all but confirmed a day earlier when the league fined Houston $150,000 for prematurely commenting about their new acquisition. The Lakers also confirmed they had lost the battle to retain the 27-year-old, who moved to Los Angeles from the Orlando Magic in a blockbuster 12-player trade less than a year ago.
Howard, who had also been courted by the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors, favoured the move to Houston despite the prospect of a substantial paycut. A three-time ‘NBA Defensive Player of the Year’, popularly known as ‘Superman’ for his athletic prowess, Howard would have been eligible to sign for five years and $118 million with Los Angeles or four years and $88 million with any other team.
The Lakers moved quickly to fill the void left by Howard, reaching an agreement with free agent center Chris Kaman on a one-year deal worth $3.2 million. The 31-year-old Kaman has career averages of 11.8 points and eight rebounds.