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July 12, 2013

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Howard-to-Houston sets into motion flood of deals

DWIGHT Howard's move from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Rockets was not officially rubber stamped by Houston on Wednesday, though a flood of completed deals were confirmed with the National Basketball Association lifting its moratorium on new business.

On what is generally known as "signing day" some of the league's biggest names changed uniforms as the league set its salary cap for the coming season at US$58.67 million.

The occasion, however, was anti-climatic with most of the deals completed days earlier and only the formality of signing on the dotted line remaining.

Andrea Bargnani, Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith were among the high-profile names finding new homes while All-Star point guard Chris Paul re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul was quick to get his name on a new five-year, US$107 million contract, officially inking his deal one minute after the moratorium was lifted at midnight.

Center Andrew Bynum agreed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a two-year, US$24-million dollar deal, it was reported on Wednesday.

Bynum had been traded from the Lakers to Philadelphia last season but failed to play even one game for the 76ers because of knee issues.

Howard, a seven-time All-Star center, was the prize free agent on the market and attracted the attention of several suitors before settling on Houston.

New acquisition

Even though the Rockets were quiet on Wednesday, Howard's signing was all but confirmed a day earlier when the league fined Houston US$150,000 for prematurely commenting about their new acquisition.

The Lakers also confirmed they had lost the battle to retain the 27-year-old, who moved to Los Angeles from the Orlando Magic in a blockbuster 12-player trade less than a year ago.

The Lakers moved quickly to fill the void left by Howard, reaching an agreement with free-agent center Chris Kaman on a one-year US$3.2 million deal.

The 31-year-old Kaman has career averages of 11.8 points and eight rebounds and just completed a one-year contract with the Mavericks.

Houston was also believed to be Smith's destination but instead the Atlanta Hawks free-agent forward opted for a four-year, US$54 million deal with the Detroit Pistons.

Taken in the first round of the 2004 draft by the Hawks, Smith spent nine seasons in Atlanta.

The Golden State Warriors were also in the hunt for Howard but after failing to secure him, they turned their attention to Iguodala, acquiring the guard/forward from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade on a four-year, US$48 million deal.

The Toronto Raptors confirmed a swap with the Knicks by shipping the enigmatic Bargnani, the No. 1 overall pick in 2006 draft, to New York for a package of players and draft picks.

The Raptors received center Marcus Camby, forwards Steve Novak and Quentin Richardson, a 2016 first-round draft pick and two second-round draft picks (2014 and 2017).



 

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