As the Los Angeles Lakers look forward to next season, their first priority this off season his the re-signing of center Dwight Howard for the long term, but former coach Phil Jackson doesn't see any reason form him to want to stay.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Jackson questioned whether or not the Lakers system can work for Howard and whether it would be a smart decision for him to remain with the team.
Jackson suggested Dwight Howard might not have sufficient reason to return to theLakers this summer as a free agent.
"Would you? If you felt like your game wasn't going to be featured?" asked Jackson on the Dan Patrick Show.
"You have to play in to Dwight Howard. You have to get back and reestablish him as the center that he potentially was going to be," said Jackson. "This year ... he had four or five less touches in the post. Most of the things he got in there were on the move."
Howard recently spoke on his dissatisfaction with how the coaching staff used him last season and if Mike D'Antoni to man the sidelines for the Lakers, he will conceivably face the same issues in the future.
This development only adds to speculation that either the Houston Rockets or the Dallas Mavericks have the best chances at Howard.
According to a previous report, Howard is intrigued by the idea of playing with either Texas teams due to the pieces they currently already have on their roster.
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.
Now let's imagine that if Howard were to sign with the Rockets, by the summer of 2014 the Rockets would have Howard, James Harden, Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin on their roster, with the flexibility to add on.
Another benefit for signing with either Texas team at this point for Howard would be that he'd be saving a substantial amount of cash by paying no state income tax, which early estimates are suggesting could reach $10 million over four years.
Howard has a lot on his plate to deal with, it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.
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