The Houston Rockets are very confident that they can lure Dwight Howard in free agency. Very confident.
The Rockets have called several teams to announce that point guard Jeremy Lin and center Omer Asik are available via trade, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports. The move is essentially a “contingency plan” should the team sign Howard. One of Berger’s sources says that the Rockets “already have [Howard], if you talk to them.”
Although the Rockets were very high on Lin when they acquired him last offseason, the team wants to clear salary to make room for Howard. They have already cleared the necessary salary cap space by trading Thomas Robinson to Portland. However, if they trade Lin, the Rockets would like a starting point guard in return, according to Berger.
The Rockets have already begun a hard push to acquire Howard that began Sunday at 9 p.m. PT, right when teams could begin courting free agents. Lin, however, was not invited to the team’s pitch meeting with Howard in Los Angeles.
