Dwight Howard believes that the loss of forward Chandler Parsons to the Dallas Mavericks won't hurt the Houston Rockets in the upcoming season.
The Associated Press quoted Howard as saying: "It won't affect us at all" after the former Rocket signed a three year deal worth $45 million. He added: ''We have myself and James (Harden). We have the best center and the best two guard in the game on the same team. It's on us.''
Howard was in Atlanta for a basketball camp and said he wishes his former teammate well, but believes that Rockets are good enough to compete in the loaded Western Conference even without the 25-year-old Parsons who had a career year last season with averages of 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and four assists.
Interestingly, Howard had credited Parsons for encouraging him to sign with the Rockets last season. Parsons and Howard share the same agent.
The Rockets have been one of the busiest franchises in the off-season. It courted Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh although the two chose to stay with the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, respectively. They also traded away bench players Omri Casspi, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. As a replacement for Parsons, the Rockets signed former player Trevor Ariza to a multi-year contract.
Howard, who was a teammate of Ariza with the Orlando Magic, believes the new Rocket would fill in the shoes left by Parsons. ''He'll go through a wall for you. Just to have soldiers on your team like that is great. We have that one-two punch with me and James. We're filling out our roster with guys who are willing to go through that wall and doing whatever it takes to win.''
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