The Houston Rockets pulled off the biggest signing of the offseason by snagging Dwight Howard from Los Angeles, but if it were up to executive vice president Jeanie Buss, she thinks D12 would have stayed if her father Dr. Jerry Buss was still alive to convince him.
According to ESPN.com, Buss said that the Lakers would have had a better chance to keep Howard if Dr. Buss was still alive, adding that the billboards in LA didn't work and that the pitch meeting with the team did not go very well. Buss added that she was disappointed Howard decided to leave.
"They would've probably had a better relationship if my dad hadn't been sick," Jeanie Buss said in a wide-ranging interview with hosts Mark Willard and Mychal Thompson on ESPNLA 710 Thursday. "When it came time to try to convince Dwight to stay, we lost the best closer in the business in Dr. Buss.
"Putting up the billboard maybe wasn't the right thing. But we maybe have to learn to do things differently because Dr. Buss isn't here anymore. People said [of the billboards], 'Oh, that's not the Laker way.' Well, the Laker way isn't the same, because Dr. Buss isn't here."
The Rockets made the biggest splash in the offseason by signing Howard to a deal away from the Los Angeles Lakers and after all the attention Howard has received over the past few seasons and the way things finished in LA, he now will have all eyes on him and is the free agent this season with the most to prove as he joins a new team. The Rockets swayed him with comfort and the chance to win a championship and according to reports, Chandler Parsons was a big part of that and now he will have the chance to change his image and show that he is not a pariah.
The lone season in Los Angeles was a disaster for Howard, as he never got acclimated to the team and did not mesh well with Kobe Bryant, giving him the stigma that he is a selfish player and now he will have the chance to change that. Jeremy Lin is also being looked at with a prime focus as he tries to improve this season and that makes the Rockets one of the most interesting teams to watch in the West in 2013. James Harden is a budding superstar and if they keep Omer Asik they will have the best one-two punch in the middle of anyone, as Howard averaged 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds in 76 games with the Lakers.
The Rockets made it into the playoffs as the eighth seed and this time around they will be looking for more after adding Howard and coach Kevin McHale feels he has a championship roster already as complied. GM Daryl Morey may add more depth and he did so already with Omri Casspi and there are names out there that could be solid as well. Howard was happy to leave Los Angeles after a tough season and now the 27-year-old will join his third team already before he turns 28. Howard turned down the chance to re-sign with the Lakers and now that his back injury is in the past, he is ready to shed any baggage he is bringing with him as he tries to win a championship and change his image.
Another former Laker, Andrew Bynum, will have tons to prove to the Cavaliers after he did not play a single minute for the Sixers last season and after averaging d 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds two years ago, the team will be expecting the same. Bynum signed a $6 million guaranteed deal that is littered with incentives and now he has to prove that he can stay healthy this season. The Pistons and Josh Smith will have a ton to prove as well after he comes over from the Hawks, as Joe Dumars signed him to a four-year, $54 million contract and now his expectations will be enormous after averaging 16.5 points and 8.4 rebounds the last three years. Tyreke Evans moves from the Kings to the Pelicans on a four-year, $44 million deal and he will also have high expectations after last season in Sacramento and after averaging 20.1 points, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds as a rookie, the Pelicans will want more of that.