With the start of the NBA free agency beginning Monday, the Houston Rockets have received some very encouraging news from free agent center Dwight Howard as the world awaits the conclusion of the "Dwightmare" that is his free agency rumors.

According to the Houston Chronicle, it appears that the Rockets have received news that Howard is "about 90 percent" leaning towards the signing with the team after having his questions about the team, its potential and how he would fit answered.

The Rockets recently traded Thomas Robinson to the Portland Trailblazers for two future second-round picks and the rights to European players Kostas Papanikolaou and Marko Todorovic, all in order to have enough cap space to offer Howard a max contract deal.

Houston also waived the contracts of veterans Aaron Brooks and Carlos Delfino earlier on Sunday to clear more space in their salary-cap.

Since their season ended, Howard has been very quiet about what he's thinking about before free agency kicks off, but he's remained clear that he's going to continue to take his time to weigh his options.

"This is my chance to choose my own destiny instead of letting someone else choose it. So I'm going to really sit down and think about what is best for me as far as basketball and what is going to make me happy."

"There's nothing one team can say to sway me away from another team. It's just going to be what's best for me basketball-wise. That's how I'm going to approach it."

Howard's likely thinking about the future and signing with the Lakers will surely ensure another difficult season for Howard in the future. In the summer of 2014, while other stars will become free agents, the Lakers would only have Howard and Steve Nash under contract and will likely be in the process of rebuilding for the 2014-15 season.

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