Houston Rockets Daily Rocket Science: The full Dwight Saga update

The countdown continues, and the Rockets have yet to make a move concerning Dwight.

It’s February 17th. The trade deadline is tomorrow at 2 pm CST. Dwight Howard is still a member of the Houston Rockets.

Today’s Daily Rocket Science is totally dedicated to predicting what will happen with the big man D12. Let’s jump right in.

Houston Rockets (Dwight Howard) news and notes from around the web

First off, we need to discuss the probability of the Rockets even being able to move Dwight. He’s 30 years old and is averaging the second lowest point total of his career. The Rockets have contacted several teams, but as of just a couple of days ago, had received zero interest. Some people might think that GM Daryl Morey would contemplate giving up on the notion. However, Rick Bucher of Bleacher Report is not one of those people. In his video, he predicts that the Rockets will do “everything in their power” to trade the big fella and discusses potential trade options that could take place.

Okay, now let’s look at some potential destinations for Howard. First, the Miami Heat. Space City Scoop’s Coty Davis reported on the rumor that sprung up about a potential trade that would swap Superman for the Heat’s center, Hassan Whiteside. Miami already dealt one of their centers (Chris Andersen) to the Memphis Grizzlies, so they may want to maintain some continuity on their roster by keeping the other one. We’ll definitely know by tomorrow.

Whiteside is an up-and-coming center, who has established himself as one of the league’s top defensive players. At 26-years old, Houston will continue having a solid presence down on the low post. Whiteside is much younger, faster, and more physical than a 30-year old Howard who is turning into a shell of his former self.

Acquiring Whiteside before Thursday’s deadline will make Houston a considerably better team both now, and in the future assuming the Rockets could re-sign him.

More from Space City Scoop

The second destination for Dwight that’s been talked about is the Charlotte Hornets. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that the two teams have had “exploratory talks” on potential trades, but that a deal has yet to be struck up. The Rockets are supposedly asking for “at least one future first-round pick” in return for Howard, something the Hornets have yet to be willing to lose. Like I said about the Miami rumors, we’ll know tomorrow.

"Sources told ESPN.com that the Hornets and Rockets have held exploratory talks on a potential Howard deal since Houston made him available last week. But one source close to the talks expressed pessimism Tuesday that the sides will be able to find common ground on a deal."

That’s about all the information that’s available on the third installment of the Dwight Howard Saga (installments one and two were with Orlando and Los Angeles). The drama will soon come to an end, but it’s a safe bet to say that Morey will keep all of us on the edge of our seats until the very last second. Suspense at its finest.

Send our Editor any Rockets-related article/video/tweet/gram/vine that we may have missed via Twitter direct message to @TTOTambz.

Next: NBA All-Star Saturday Night Sets New Standard

With the trade deadline around the corner, make sure you visit Space City Scoop on a daily basis for our trade series. Each day, SCS will feature an article on who the Rockets should trade for or what it would take to part ways with the players currently on the roster. Finally, we’ll assess the Rockets and each team in the Association in terms of what their needs are, if they should be buyers or sellers, and also speculate on who would be the ideal trade target.

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