Former Rocket Dwight Howard, Atlanta Hawks agree on 3-year, $70.5 million deal

Dwight Howard's time with the Houston Rockets was short, productive, and tumultuous. Howard excised his player option to opt out of the final year of his four-year, 87.5 million dollar contract with the Rockets, which was a clear sign that the tension-filled marriage was over.  The breakup is now official as The Vertical and Shams Charania are reporting that Howard has reached an agreement on a contract:

Dwight Howard has reached agreement on a three-year, $70.5 million with the Atlanta Hawks, league sources tell The Vertical.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2016

The reported contract is $70.5 million over three years with the Hawks. The yearly salary averages out to $23.5 million per year -- slightly below what he had publicly had been asking of $24 million per year. That figure is basically the same amount money Howard would have gotten in Houston in his final season.

The fact that Howard didn't see a vast increase in salary as other players have seen across the league shows his value, and, two, that he wanted the future security of a three-year deal in the Eastern Conference then attempting to play for a bigger deal with a rebound year with the Rockets.

Howard joined the Rockets as arguably one of the top 20 players in the NBA, and left as a player that couldn't play back-to-backs, move up and down the floor effectively, still without a post game to speak off, and went on a media tour throwing teammates and coaches under the bus.

Howard, 30, averaged 13.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks in his final season with the Rockets.

The Rockets will now push all their chips into the center of the table to go after Al Horford in a quasi-trade of talent with the Hawks.