The Houston Rockets have already made their pitch to sign top free-agent center Dwight Howard and they are confident they did enough to convince the All-Star bigman to join them next season.

The Rockets had a meeting with Howard right after the start of the free-agency period Monday midnight, bringing general manager Daryl Morey, Rockets players James Harden and Chandler Parsons and former Rockets great Hakeen Olajuwon and Yao Ming as representatives in an effort to nab the talented center this offseason.

Howard, who averaged 17.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, is the most-sought free-agent available in the market with at least five teams (the Rockets, the Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors) pursuing to sign arguably the best center in the NBA.

Howard can command a deal worth $80 million over four years with any of the ball club except the Lakers, who has the right to offer up to $118 million, six-year contract.

However, the Rockets are very much confident they can bring in Howard because of their young core of talents, including All-Star shooting guard James Harden, Chandler Parson and potentially another max contract free-agent.