The Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, and Sacramento Kings were all recently fined by the NBA for tampering. Various outlets under each team’s umbrella (a ticket promoter, a team website, the new coach of your Sacramento Kings) mentioned upcoming free agents Dwight Howard and Chris Paul in innocuous, but still understandably penalty-worthy incidents. The NBA can’t have teams discussing players on other teams, because until July 1, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul are still technically members of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers. They still have two more checks coming their way. NBA players, however, can say whatever the heck they want, to whoever will listen. They can talk up opposing players as potential free agent targets to any media source available without risking a fine from the NBA. Heck, they can even text a player endlessly, or camp out at the dude’s house so as to beat their own general manager to the punch once July 1 rolls around. This is what Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, a Florida native and buddy of Dwight Howard’s, seems inching toward. Here are some quotes from his appearance on CBS Sports’ ROME on Thursday, as lovingly transcribed by ClutchFans , starting with his reaction to Jim Rome asking if he thinks the Rockets have “a shot at” acquiring Dwight Howard as a free agent:
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