Dwight Howard's departure from the Houston Rockets began a long time ago, it seems.

Monday morning, a report from ESPN's Tim MacMahon came out revealing that the Rockets management pushed for Clint Capela to get more playing time and for a “drastic” reduction in Howard's minutes last season.

Via ESPN:

Houston Rockets management repeatedly pushed for Clint Capela to get more playing time at the expense of Dwight Howard last season, sources told ESPN, adding to the disharmony that played a prominent role in the team's disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

Former Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff resisted complying with the wishes of general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander regarding a drastic reduction in Howard's playing time. Team sources said Alexander never participated in the meetings with Morey and Bickerstaff but fully supported the general manager's plan to prioritize Capela's development.

The Rockets finished with the eighth seed in the Western Conference and were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors 4-1 in the first round.

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In 32.1 minutes per game, Howard averaged 13.7 points and 11.8 rebounds on 62.0 percent shooting. Capela averaged 7.0 points and 6.4 rebounds on 58.2 percent shooting in 19.1 minutes a night.

Houston may have known Howard wasn't going to be around for the long-term, which would have given the franchise more reason to prioritize Capela.

As far back as May, Howard commented about the uncomfortable situation in Houston.

“There were times I was disinterested because of situations that happened behind the scenes that really hurt me,” Howard said in a May interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan. “It left me thinking, ‘This is not what I signed up for.'”

Asked to elaborate, Howard added: “I felt like my role was being reduced. I went to Daryl and said, ‘I want to be more involved.' Daryl said, ‘No, we don't want you to be.' My response was, ‘Why not? Why am I here?' It was shocking to me that it came from him instead of our coach.”

Howard signed with the Atlanta Hawks this summer.