The Rockets were expected to be heavily involved in the pursuit of Dwight Howard this summer, and that was even before Howard was reportedly intrigued with the opportunity of playing in Houston moving forward.

Now, with July’s free agency period rapidly approaching, the Rockets are in the process of trying to create enough space under the salary cap to offer Howard the maximum contract he’ll require once he hits the open market. Houston’s initial run at doing so involves trying to essentially give away a player who was a top-five pick in the 2012 draft.

From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

The Houston Rockets are determined to trade forward Thomas Robinson – the fifth pick in the 2012 NBA draft – to create salary-cap space for the pursuit of Los Angeles Lakers’ free-agent superstar Dwight Howard, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Rockets have made clear to multiple rival teams that they plan to accept the best offer to move Robinson and eliminate his $3.52 million salary for the 2013-14 season.

Robinson has been unable to make an impact on two NBA teams now, after being selected by Sacramento in the draft and then getting traded to the Rockets in the middle of this past season.

As for what teams will have to give up to acquire Robinson, well, it won’t be much considering the way the Rockets have announced both his availability, as well as their intentions. Houston will be looking for a draft pick, a trade exception, or non-guaranteed contracts it can unload later — basically, anything that will allow the team to shed Robinson’s contract to create enough space to be able to go after Howard.

The Rockets are a team likely high on Howard’s list for two reasons — one, there’s James Harden, who’s a compelling young superstar that can handle the bulk of the scoring as well as some of the media attention. The second and much more important reason that may factor into Howard leaving Los Angeles (and what makes Houston an attractive destination) is that there isn’t nearly as much pressure to win on the scale that there is while playing for the legendary Lakers franchise.

If Howard leaves L.A., it will be because he wasn’t interested in having those championship-level expectations placed upon his broad shoulders year after excruciating year. Houston would be a fine place to go to potentially win while avoiding what can be a soul-crushing burden for someone without the right mindset to deal with it, and this reported move to clear the cap space necessary to make a run at Howard is the Rockets’ first step in attempting to make that a reality.