The Houston Rockets made one of the biggest splashes in free agency by signing Dwight Howard to a contract and now that the team is basically fully set for 2013-14, expectations are at a high level and many fans feel that it's championship or bust now that Howard is in the fold.
Howard has a nice supporting cast led by James Harden that includes Chandler Parsons, Marcus Camby, Omri Casspi, Omer Asik, Patrick Beverley, Francisco Garcia as well as Terrence Jones and while GM Daryl Morey may still make moves, the main core is complete. Howard has championship expectations for himself and now that he left LA, they will be ever higher, much like when LeBron left for the Heat from the Cavs. An interesting wrinkle to Howard signing with the Rockets is Harden, who was acquired before last season in a stunning trade from the Thunder.
Bleacher Reports poses a question about Howard and Harden and compares the two stars to ones of the past, including Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant when they were with the Lakers and writes that the duo could face similar challenges that those superstars did. Harden showed last season that he has the potential to be a superstar in the NBA and now Oklahoma City looks awful after trading him away over money and at 24-years-old, he still has plenty of time to develop. Howard comes in a year after Harden was acquired and the two make for one of the best duos in the league.
Harden came to the Rockets after spending time as a sixth man to Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and last season he was able to be the number one option. Now that Howard is in the fold the two may rub up against each other, as Howard could take away his role as the priority player on offense. Howard had some issues with Bryant in LA and that was similar to what happened with Kobe and Shaq and that could rear its head again this season. Jeremy Lin is the point guard, but clearly Howard and Harden are better than he is at their respective positions and Bleacher Reports points out an interesting item, writing that Harden at one point didn't want ant Howard related questions when speaking to the media, which could be a precursor to how they act together.
While that may mean nothing, both players will want what is coming to them and now that Howard is out of Los Angeles, he can breathe a bit since the media isn't so crazy. Harden said he is thrilled to have Howard and that both players are focused on winning a championship. Depending on how things play out this could be a legendary pairing, but if the two can't get along on the court, it may never make it into a championship duo.