Rockets, Warriors In Lead For Dwight Howard

4:40pm: Following the Warriors' agreement with Iguodala, Golden State and Houston are now Howard's top two preferred destinations, according to TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). Aldridge cautions that the Lakers aren't out of the running yet, but says they seem to be trailing behind the other two teams.

4:27pm: Prior to the Warriors' trade agreement with the Jazz and contract agreement with Andre Iguodala, Howard had narrowed his options down to the Lakers and Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. However, with Iguodala now on board in Golden State, it's unclear if that changes Howard's outlook. The Warriors have not been informed that they're out of the running (Twitter links).

4:10pm: One suitor for Dwight Howard is officially off the board, and the All-Star center won't be pairing with Dirk Nowitzki in the Big D. The Mavericks have been notified they're no longer in the running for Howard, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).

As we noted in our earlier round-up of the day's D12 rumors, Sam Amick of USA Today reported that the Mavericks and Hawks had both been receiving "strong signals" that Howard wouldn't sign with them. At that point, however, no teams had been formally informed that they were out of the mix.

With Dallas no longer in play for Howard and Atlanta looking like an extremely unlikely destination, the Rockets, Warriors, and Lakers remain in the hunt. Golden State has been receiving plenty of buzz today, having agreed to a deal with Andre Iguodala while managing to hang on to chips to dangle in sign-and-trade negotiations. However, Houston has been frequently cited as the frontrunner.

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