From the beginning of his tenure in Houston, J.B. Bickerstaff had a system for addressing the team's stars as an assistant coach. At times, it was talking to Dwight Howard over here; at other moments, it was huddling with James Harden over there.
When Bickerstaff took over for Kevin McHale as interim Rockets head coach last November, it was with complete awareness that Harden and Howard had their own concepts of the team's reality.
Bickerstaff's goal was conflict avoidance.
Which doesn't necessarily make for a cohesive group.
The Rockets' failures finally forced a meeting with those three together—and general manager Daryl Morey—to get on the same page.
That communication has Houston hopeful anew that it doesn't have to jettison Howard before the NBA trade deadline Thursday.
The possibility of a Howard deal makes for such fascinating theater: the league's most prolific deadline dealer in Morey, a potentially huge-impact product to move that some could see as half-full and others could see as half-hearted, and the ticking clock.
If Howard is on the market, the resu ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Kevin Ding
Howard, Horford, Morris Among Names to Watch During Unpredictable Trade Deadline
February 16th, 2016 by Kevin Ding Leave a reply »
Advertisement