The Rockets' Monday meeting with free agent Josh Smith in Los Angeles included a discussion about a possible partnership between him and childhood friend Dwight Howard, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Sam Amick of USA Today. Smith has been known on the Rockets' radar, for some time, but he's not just being looked at as a Plan B if Howard goes elsewhere.
Combining Howard and Smith with James Harden would give the Rockets a formidable Big Three. In fact, Howard and his reps asked the Rockets in their meeting this week if they could find a way to sign another player to a max deal, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
The Rockets would have to clear some serious hurdles to get a deal done but they could conceivably try and work a sign-and-trade with the Hawks to help make things easier. Center Omer Asik and point guard Jeremy Lin will each earn $8.3MM in each of the next two seasons and could be moved to help free up space. Both players are reportedly being shopped around the league.
Personally, I don’t think Josh Smith is a Max money player.
I don’t think you are alone in that.
Nope, but those 3 on a team would be scary, they’d need a really good pg to help Harden run the show
I think I would take Harden/Smith/Howard over Lebron/Wade/Bosh as Wade is starting to show his wear and tear and Bosh isn’t really a star anymore. That said I disagree about needing a good point guard. Harden needs the ball to be effective and plays a “point guard” role on offense. They need someone who plays good D and can shoot the 3 as spacing would be pretty bad on that team. Harden/Parsons are decent 3pt shooters at best. Smith shouldn’t be taking any and Howard will clog the lane…