Dwight Howard Meets With Atlanta Hawks; Free Agent Center To Talk With Los Angeles Lakers And Dallas Mavericks Next

The NBA is a league dominated by superb guard play since the ability to knock down the outside shot, distribute the ball and get to the basket are key components in a player's ability to become an elite talent and while there is a wide array of flair at the guard and forward positions, NBA big men seem to be few and far between.

Since entering the league in 2004 after the Orlando Magic selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Dwight Howard has been the NBA's premier center. Averaging a double-double in points and rebounds in each of his 9 professional seasons, the 27-year-old has not only been the top big man but one of the most dominant figures in the game. After only one season as a Los Angeles Laker however, Howard seems like he may be ready to move on and the chase to acquire the free agent around the league is beginning to pick up.

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Following 8 productive seasons in Orlando, Howard was traded to the Lakers during the summer of 2012. Expected to help Kobe Bryant and point guard Steve Nash lead L.A. to a strong season and perhaps an NBA championship, Howard and the Lakers struggled, barely making the postseason where they were eventually knocked out by the San Antonio Spurs.

Now the 6'11" big man is a free agent and while Los Angeles continues to prepare their final pitch before meeting with Howard on July 2^nd, other suitors - most notably the Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets - have their selling points ready to go as they hope to woo the league's best big man.

According to ESPN, Howard's first 2 stops on his free agent tour were to Atlanta and Golden State to meet with the Hawks and Warriors respectively. Completing both meetings on Monday, July 1^st, Howard will now prepare to sit down with the Dallas Mavericks and the Lakers on Tuesday, July 2^nd.

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A meeting with Atlanta makes sense considering Dwight Howard is from the Georgia city and because the team seems dedicated to furthering the recent success they've had. Recently hiring Mike Budenholzer as their head coach, Hawks general manager Danny Ferry told ESPN that the meeting with the free agent center went "well," but didn't offer much more than that.

While the Lakers are not expected to offer Howard a maximum contract of 4 years and $88 million, the Golden State Warriors - equipped with rising superstar Steph Curry and head coach Marc Jackson - would entertain the idea of a sign-and-trade with Los Angeles in order to be able to offer the aforementioned max deal.

The possibility of playing in Houston is intriguing to Howard as well because Rockets head coach Kevin McHale has the ability to help big men perform to their strengths and considering Howard is coming off a season where he averaged over 17 points and 12 rebounds per game, McHale may be able to mold him into a more dominant force.

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Los Angeles has already indicated its desire to re-sign Howard and as members of the Lakers front office begin their respective pitches to the Atlanta, Georgia native, teammate and Laker point guard Steve Nash indicated on his Twitter page that Howard should stick around since the city and team will immortalize him once his career in purple and gold comes to an end.

Los Angeles will certainly do every reasonable thing to keep their starting center and while the 7-time All-Star continues to keep his options open, the idea of possibly joining Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks could pick up steam considering Mavs' owner Mark Cuban loves superstars and isn't afraid to pay them big money. Nowitzki wouldn't mind having another scoring option on the floor either.

"I reached out to him and told him we'd love to have him," Nowitzki told Sports Illustrated. "That's really about it. It's not like we call each other every day. I haven't written him a letter. We've just had a little phone contact and that's about it. He's just weighing out his options. I'm sure he has a couple of meetings set up for whenever that might be in early July. Hopefully, the Mavs are one of those teams and we'll go from there."

Set to meet with a handful of teams over the next few days, expect the Dwight Howard free agency saga to continue heading into next season.