Dwight Howard can become a free agent in 2016 if he opts out of the final season of his contract with the Houston Rockets, but he shed little light on his intentions when asked this week.

"There's no need to live in the future," Howard said. "I'm not a guy that lives in the future. The only moment that matters is right now, what we accomplish as a team. It starts with training camp. We just have to work on getting better every day.

"There's no need for me to focus on anything that is going to happen next summer. My job is to focus on how I can help this team be the best team in the NBA and win a championship."

Howard was pressured to declare whether he would opt out of the final season of his contract after the 2012-13 season. On the day of the 2012 trade deadline, the Rockets and Magic were involved in trade talks up until Howard's press conference in which he said he would not opt of the final season of his contract.

Ty Lawson believes he could make a big difference for the Houston Rockets if they play the Golden State Warriors again in the playoffs.

“Steph Curry needed someone to go back at him,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports. “I thought Steph was just chillin’ on defense – and then going crazy on offense. He looked like he was just putting shots up and not working so much on the defensive end. He would just come down and hit three or four 3s. He can shoot when he’s got his legs under him.”

The Rockets primarily had Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni at point guard as Curry's defensive assignment.

“I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to stop Steph,' but just make him work harder at the other end. I saw that in the Cavs series too.

“He wasn’t really working at the other end.”

The New York Knicks struggled last season both with and without Carmelo Anthony and they will need several things to go right to compete for a playoff spot.

But Anthony says the goal remains to win a championship.

"We're competing," Anthony said after practice on Wednesday. "People might not believe that, but we're definitely competing for that. That's always going to be the goal. Whether we get there or not depends on us and what we're doing. That's always our big-picture goal."

"Rebuilding for us is based on the fact that we don't have a certain caliber of player on our roster, quote unquote, other than Carmelo," Derek Fisher said. "So people assume that we're rebuilding. But was Atlanta rebuilding last year when they didn't have a quote-unquote player on their roster? So it just depends on who your team is.

"We think that our group as we figure some things out, will be more competitive than maybe what people think. But rebuilding doesn't necessarily mean we're not trying to win right now."

The NBA announced that the league's Board of Governors has unanimously approved modifications to the instant-replay process for NBA games, beginning with the 2015-16 season.

This season, in addition to the three referees working each game, current NBA referees will be staffed in the Replay Center, making decisions on certain replay situations and facilitating the on-the-court review of others.

All replay reviews will continue to be triggered by the referees on the court. Once triggered, though, the final determination of certain reviews will be made by the referees in the Replay Center and then communicated back to the oncourt crew chief for administration of the call.

"Many instances in our 15 instant-replay triggers are very straightforward and do not need the involvement of the oncourt game officials to accurately determine the result," said Kiki VanDeWeghe, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. "Flow of game is crucial to basketball so a quicker result will help our players and coaches return to action faster."

Derrick Rose underwent successful surgery on his fractured left orbital.

Rose will be able to resume basketball activities in two weeks.

Mike Miller has cleared waivers and will sign a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets.

Miller was waived by the Portland Trail Blazers several weeks after being traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Nuggets pursued Miller during the 2014 offseason.

The Cleveland Cavaliers plan on using Kevin Love more prominently in his second season with the team.

"I just think he's more comfortable in the situation that he's in," LeBron James said after practice Wednesday. "He's got a year under his belt; he knows what he expects out of himself and what his teammates expect out of him. I expect big things from him this year with a year up under his belt."

Using Love more would also allow James to rest more than he has in the past.

Love's numbers took a noticeable hit last season, as he averaged just 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while often appearing an ill fit for coach David Blatt's schemes. Love's usage rate dropped from 27.7 in his last season with the Timberwolves, second among all power forwards, to 20.4 in his first season with the Cavs, 20th among all power forwards.

The Portland Trail Blazers have exercised team options on guard CJ McCollum (fourth year), center Mason Plumlee (fourth year) and forward Noah Vonleh (third year).

McCollum, the 10th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, holds averages of 6.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 14.5 minutes in 100 career games in his first two seasons with Portland.

Plumlee, the 22nd overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft by Brooklyn, has averaged 8.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.77 blocks and 19.9 minutes in 152 games during his first two NBA seasons.

Portland acquired Plumlee and the draft rights to guard Pat Connaughton from Brooklyn for guard Steve Blake and the draft rights to forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

Vonleh, the ninth overall pick by Charlotte in the 2014 NBA Draft, appeared in 25 games for the Hornets during his rookie season, averaging 3.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 10.4 minutes.

Nate Duncan is previewing all 30 NBA teams on his Dunc'd On Basketball Podcast. Click on the following links for each team's preview:

Los Angeles Clippers

Utah Jazz

Phoenix Suns

Chicago Bulls

Brooklyn Nets

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Washington Wizards

Memphis Grizzlies

Golden State Warriors

San Antonio Spurs

New York Knicks 

Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks

Los Angeles Lakers

Oklahoma City Thunder

Denver Nuggets

Philadelphia 76ers

Portland Trail Blazers

Boston Celtics

New Orleans Pelicans

Orlando Magic

Toronto Raptors

Minnesota Timberwolves

Charlotte Hornets

Atlanta Hawks

Houston Rockets

Tom Thibodeau is attempting to remain unplugged as much as possible from the world of basketball following his dismissal as head coach of the Chicago Bulls.

"I really want to treat this year like a sabbatical," said Thibodeau.

For the first time since 1991, Thibodeau is unemployed and he's a notorious workaholic. 

Thibodeau continues to live in Chicago, liking the restaurants and the proximity of the location to the rest of the country.

Thibodeau is also visiting NBA camps with Charlotte last weekend, San Antonio this week and then a stretch with the Clippers.

"You learn from everything you go through," Thibodeau says, "and you want to put that experience to use."