Houston Rockets superstar Dwight Howard has denied speculations that he is looking to be traded and leave the "broken" Western Conference Southwest Division team behind with the February 18 trade deadline fast approaching.

Howard, the 2004 NBA draft 1^st overall pick selected by the Orlando Magic, told Marc Stein of the ESPN on Thursday that he never asked his current team to trade him.

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"Dan's statement is true," Howard told to Stein. "I have not asked the Rockets to trade me. Nor have I talked about right trades. I want to win. I want this situation to work. I chose this team. And I'm not running because we have been faced with some adversity."

Yale Law School graduate Dan Fegan, Howard's NBA agent, released a statement stating he and his client had never beseeched a deal and were not in the process with the Rockets management to expedite one.

Howard, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, reportedly plans to bypass his player option having a value of $23 million and become an unrestricted free agent this summer for the next NBA season.

The 30-year-old is currently averaging a double-double of 14.6 points, 12 rebounds and 1.5 shot blocks in 32.3 minutes of playing time in the 44 games he played for the Rockets this season.

Houston have lost three successive games and yielded to the teams they have faced in six occasions in its last ten games played. The Rockets are 11-15 on road and 16-13 at home this season. They are currently 27-28 and half a game out of the Western Conference playoff race with Portland and Utah emerging in the last two spots.

"We're broken. It's that simple," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after their 116-106 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last Wednesday night.

 "Right now we are a broken team. It's easy to see. It's a fragmented bunch. You can't win that way."

TagsDwight Howard, houston rockets, NBA