James Harden on free agent Dwight Howard: ‘I haven’t really talked to him’

Yes, the Houston Rockets disappointed in 2015-16 and, yes, stars James Harden and Dwight Howard didn’t always seem to coalesce on or off the court during the team’s but-with-a-whimper run to a first round exit, but couldn’t the boys at least give a cursory attempt to keep it all together? Maybe a text thread, however insincere, started by Harden as he attempts to convince Howard to stick with the team as a free agent summer?

Nah. Not the Rocket Way.

It was long assumed that Howard would opt out of his contract this summer even if the pair had gotten along famously and the Rox contended for a title, as there is a lot of money to be made this summer. That expectation was driven home during the regular season as the Rockets struggled and Harden and Howard’s non-existent relationship reached stasis levels in its second year together and crisis levels during its third. The hiring of coach and former Dwight combatant Mike D’Antoni just about made the Howard opt-out ironclad.

[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Apparently the parting of ways is so obvious that Harden couldn’t even be bothered to fib a bit when asked if he’d talked to Dwight since Howard’s end of the season. From Calvin Watkins of ESPN, reporting at Harden’s basketball camp on Thursday:

“He’s his own man, he knows what’s best for his career,” Harden said Thursday. “I haven’t really talked to him, he’ll make whatever is the best decision (for him).”

Dwight Howard was set to make nearly $23.3 million next season in the final year of the four-year, $88 million deal he signed with Houston in 2013. He opted out of that final year on June 21.

Now, there are myriad reasons for this.

Howard isn’t working in the same strata as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or Dwyane Wade these days, but there is a reason James and Wade have signed a series of shorter contracts of late, and a reason why Durant might emulate the practice – it’s a way to turn a series of opt-outs into more and more money as the NBA’s salary cap rises. Were Dwight in MVP form in 2015-16, working on a team that gave the West all it could handle, he’d still opt out in order to maximize his earnings.

Even in his current form – a non-All-Star dealing with back woes and diminishing returns – this is not a move anyone should criticize Howard for chasing down. Even if you don’t care for his play or personality, if potential employers are willing to pay the piper he shouldn’t be given the stink eye for trying to make as much money as possible.

The complicated issue, as it has been with Howard for a half-decade, is fit.

He is now likely set to leave his third NBA team since 2012, leaving yet another set of failed relationships behind. Unlike his prior two divorces, though, Dwight isn’t working with a franchise tag in hand. Though this was never his go-to forte, his points per game average of 13.7 in 2015-16 was the lowest mark since his rookie year. He doesn’t appear to make the same impact defensively as he did during his MVP-level runs with the Orlando Magic, despite good rebound and block percentage marks. He’ll turn 31 in December.

Of course, he also shot 62 percent from the floor in 2015-16, and James Harden doesn’t exactly have the best reputation around the NBA as a guy you’d like to get in a three-legged race with – teams will talk themselves into finding fault with Houston prior to chasing Dwight down. Furthermore, scads of NBA franchises will have the cap space necessary to make Dwight Howard’s day with what will be the final big (and possibly maximum) contract of his career. Do not weep for his bank account.

Maybe weep for what could have been in Houston, though. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s time together went out in a blaze of nasty pot-shots and oft-accurate accusations; but at least they got three titles out of it.

These Rockets just played the passive/aggressive card until it was time to take the easy way out.

– – – – – – –

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops