Plenty of you weighed in on yesterday's poll asking where Dwight Howard would eventually sign, and there was a fairly solid consensus: About half of nearly 3,500 voters believe Howard will end up in Houston, while the Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors, and Hawks (in that order) combined for the other half of the votes. One former Rocket great is in agreement with Hoops Rumors readers, as Hakeem Olajuwon told ThePostGame.com that he believes there's an "85% chance" Howard signs with Houston.
"You never know," Olajuwon added. "But after that meeting we had, I feel very comfortable that we have the best chance to get him."
Here are a few more Thursday links related to the biggest name on the free agent market:
- Sources close to Howard tell ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Twitter link) that Kobe Bryant's reported pitch, in which he proposed teaching the All-Star center how to become a champion, will be a "complete turn-off" for Howard.
- As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News points out, since deals can't officially be signed until July 10th, the team Howard chooses shouldn't rest easy until that contract is finalized, given how indecisive D12 has been in the past.
- Yesterday, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com passed along a Howard-related conspiracy theory (via Twitter), which suggested that all the Houston buzz is a smokescreen and that the big man has been ticketed for Dallas all along. Today, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com explains why it's easy to shoot holes in that theory.