" In March, the Rockets remained steadfast in their willingness to "rent" Howard and stayed involved in talks with the Magic. At the Toyota Center on trade deadline day after the dust cleared, I was told that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was the last one standing in the Howard chase. Weeks later I was informed that when Rockets front office personnel called it a night in the wee hours of the morning of the trade deadline, they believed they were going to land Howard later that day. The 6-foot-11 center reversed course and agreed to not exercise his opt-out clause to become a free agent, instead staying with the Magic for another year. It wasn’t until this week that we could say it definitively — multiple sources tell ClutchFans that had Dwight not opted in, he was coming to Houston in a trade." LINK