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Rockets GM: Team was never close to trading Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard was mentioned in a handful of rumors around the 2016 NBA trade deadline, but Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said the team never came close to trading the veteran center.

That doesn’t mean Morey wasn’t listening to offers.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, the team’s asking price for Howard was intentionally too high. Morey, who demanded a first-round draft pick and a “significant” rotation player, said:

“Dwight’s a great player. He wants to be in Houston. We want him to be in Houston. I was disappointed some things got out rumor-wise, but all those things were myself doing diligence. That’s part of my job.”

When a franchise is rebuffed on the trade market, it often seems as if executives will conjure up a lovely story about how the club wanted a particular player all along. But that doesn’t feel like the case here.

Howard holds a player option for the 2015-16 season and is expected to exercise that right, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. The 30-year-old Howard certainly wants one final big-money contract before injuries and age derail his career any further.

Knowing that, the Rockets would’ve been foolish to not have discussions about sending Howard elsewhere. He’s no longer a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate and can demand a starting salary north of $30 million, which is flat-out bonkers.

More importantly, though, Houston followed that up with another smart decision. Morey and Co. didn’t accept just anything for Howard, turning down an offer from the Charlotte Hornets than included Al Jefferson and Spencer Hawes.

The Rockets might not want to pay Howard $30 million, but trading him for an equally aging and injured player as well as a mediocre reserve isn’t exactly preparing the roster for future success.

Unless a late-breaking report reveals an appealing deal, Morey wasn’t lying when he said Houston wasn’t close to shipping off Howard.

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