The Charlotte Hornets became the latest team who is reportedly interested in acquiring Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard and reports are out that the two ballclubs are currently talking about a potential deal involving the eight-time NBA All-Star.

ESPN reported that the Hornets and Rockets are into "exploratory talks" at the moment on a possible trade centered around Howard since the 30-year-old big man was placed on the trading block last week.

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However, there are also numerous accounts telling that a deal might be far away from actually happening as the two teams could not find a compromise to make anything push through.

It was said that Houston would like to include "one future first-round pick for Howard" to make the deal work, but Charlotte seems to be unwilling to yield to the Rockets' asking price.

The three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year awardee is in the third year of his four-year, $88 million deal with Houston wherein he has a player option at the end of the season. He is expected to exercise this option to become an unrestricted free agent and test the market this summer, which gives worry to the Rockets' management as they risk losing him for nothing if he decides to ditch them out in July.

Many teams were said to be interested in dealing for the five-time All-NBA First Teamer, but all of their primary concerns is if Howard will want to stay with them for the long run as the 2004 first overall pick had been known for disloyalty and indecisiveness during free agency periods.

Howard has recently told reporters that he has not asked the Rockets to trade him and that he wants to make "situation work", as Houston is currently buried in the Western Conference standings with a 27-28 record.

Still, the Rockets have shopped him around to interested teams mainly because of the contract situation mentioned above.

SB Nation noted that Howard to the Hornets would be a better fit "than most expect" as he would be a "significant upgrade" over Charlotte's starting big men of Cody Zeller and Spencer Hawes and is also a better pick-and-roll threat than the injured Al Jefferson.

It remains to be seen, though, whether the Hornets will concede to the Rockets' demands to be able to make this deal push through.

TagsNBA Trade Rumors, Charlotte Hornets, houston rockets, Dwight Howard, NBA Trade Rumors 2016