This wasn't what Dwight Howard was hoping for, these spotlights from so many cities descending upon him and the 2013 free agency season his and his alone.
Or close to it.
Point guard Chris Paul announced his widely-expected return to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, with the recent addition of former Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers all but sealing his deal that will be for five years and $107 million when the free agency moratorium lifts on July 10.
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They even went shopping for more support, targeting former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard O.J. Mayo among that lot. And so it is that the Clippers' new reign as the more formidable, more appealing NBA team in Los Angeles was furthered, and this the summer of Dwight that few saw coming continued anew.
But there's nothing quite like this bit of theater that so many expect to end with Howard leaving the Los Angeles Lakers for the Houston Rockets, this Hollywood horror in the making for the Lakers in which Howard walks away from the extra $30 million he could earn by staying just so he can find a more suitable fit.
It will all come to a head Tuesday, when the Lakers will follow the Mavericks in this parade of Howard suitors meeting at a Bel Air hotel to take their last, best shot at convincing him to stay put. He already has had formal visits with the frontrunner Rockets, as well as the Golden State Warriors. But this, it's safe to say, will be different.
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The mega-watt smile Howard wore when he was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Lakers last summer was real, as were the visions of title contention that would have made his return a foregone conclusion. But so were the concerns, the questions about playing with Kobe Bryant and the uncertainty that surrounded his role in the offense after coach Mike D'Antoni took over five games in. These are the issues that the Lakers will have to address, the ones that are far more complex than the bed of roses being laid by their competitors.
This is new territory for the Lakers, who have given up their NBA royalty status in order to make sure Howard knows how badly they want him back. In addition to the #STAYD12 billboards all over town, the full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times and the words of praise from general manager Mitch Kupchak for Howard in the news media, there were more substantive steps taken leading to their formal meeting with him as well.
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Kupchak spoke with Howard on Saturday, a luxury that was only legal by NBA rules because his team is the incumbent. Then Kupchak paid Howard another visit on Sunday night, a brief well-wishing that came just minutes after the 9:01 p.m. PT buzzer sounded and before Howard headed out for dinner and a presentation with the Rockets.
Yet they will still have a tough sales job ahead. While the Lakers can promote the merits of their one-of-a-kind market and undeniable track record as champions, the reality is that Bryant may not return from his Achilles tear until midway through the season and the rest of their supporting cast — Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace and the rest — hardly looked worthy of all the initial hype that followed when Howard joined them.
And while the Lakers will be a blank canvas in the summer of 2014 when only Nash is under contract and top free agents will surely come their way, the inconvenient part for them is that Howard wants to win now. Such is the challenging irony of his free agent process, the fact that all the things they can offer and that seemed so important to Howard before - the market size, the glitz and the glamour, the off-court opportunities - now pale in comparison to the chance to win a ring sooner rather than later.
The Mavericks are part of this high-stakes game as well, having made the unpopular and calculated choice to break up their championship team in the summer of 2011 so they could savor the salary cap space that is so vital in today's NBA. But they missed out on top target Deron Williams last summer (he signed with the Brooklyn Nets) and may miss out on Howard this time around, all while future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki waits not so patiently to see who he'll be starring with in his twilight years after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
The summer of Dwight continues, and it's getting hotter by the day.
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