Chandler Parsons Says He’s Re-Signing With The Mavs And Dwight Howard Is Leaving Houston

Dwight Howard
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The Houston Rockets are still technically alive in the postseason, but even without Steph Curry, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Golden State knocks them out. Once Houston is officially eliminated, the primary question regarding that franchise will be the fate of their starting center, Dwight Howard.

Howard has had another down season in Houston this year, and there have been rumblings about where he plans on signing next season. The former All-Star has been linked to, pause to giggle, his former team the Orlando Magic, Orlando’s in-state rivals, the Miami Heat, and even — as crazy as it sounds for Howard to go somewhere cold — the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite all those rumblings, there is also some thought he might end up back with the Rockets.

One team who hasn’t been significantly involved in a possible future with D-12 is the recently eliminated Dallas Mavericks. Dallas was one of many teams to try and recruit Howard when he was a free agent back in 2012, but he didn’t really give them the time of day. However, the Mavericks do have one of Howard’s buddies from Houston, Chandler Parsons, and Parsons has been known to go out and recruit players to join him.

Parsons himself has a player option for next season, so there’s no guarantee he will be back with the Mavs. He played relatively well coming off of a knee injury, but got hurt again late in the season and missed Dallas’ playoff series against the Rockets. When asked by the media if he would try and recruit Parsons back to the Mavs, Dallas shooting guard Wes Matthews gave a pretty hilarious response.

Despite Matthews’ lack of recruiting, Parsons told reporters he planned on being back with Dallas and said he would also try and recruit his former teammate.

Howard and the Mavs actually make a lot of sense. Dallas basically refuses to rebuild as long as Dirk Nowitzki is around, and Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson will do what they can to have a competent roster next season. Meanwhile, Howard is likely looking for a place where he has a chance to become a primary scoring option again (even if he’s not entirely capable of that anymore), and Dallas showed last season with DeAndre Jordan that they were willing to commit to a big man getting more touches in the post.

Plus, Parsons and Howard are close, so he would have at least one friend in the Mavs locker room, and he would likely be embraced by Nowitzki who just wants more talent around him. As exciting as the Zaza Pachulia-Salah Mejri-Dwight Powell trio was for the Mavs this year, Dwight Howard sounds a lot better in the five slot, even if he isn’t the player he once was.

It remains to be seen how much Howard will really consider joining the Mavericks, but it would seem like it’s at least a possibility considering what his friend Parsons said.

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