According to sources close to Dwight Howard, he's reportedly not going to re-sign with the Lakers despite the fact they can offer him an extra year on his contract and higher pay increases.

ESPN's Chris Broussard reported earlier this afternoon that Dwight Howard is likely to sign elsewhere.

The primary reason for his decision to leave Hollywood after just one, injury-plagued season, is he's looking to join a coach and an offensive system that will get the most of out of his prodigious talents.

With Lakers offensive guru, Mike D'Antoni, usually against going into the low post, and a team featuring a more up and down attack that takes advantage of their point guard, Steve Nash, who is rapidly getting older and slower, Howard thinks he can do better.

That's not even mentioning the hyper-competitive Kobe Bryant who often butted heads with Howard this past season. 

The only problem for Howard is walking away from all that money.

The Lakers can offer him nearly $30 million more over the length of the new contract. The Lakers can pay him a $118 million contract over 5 years while other teams can only offer a 4-year deal worth just $88 million.

This is a result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement signed before the season started in 2011.

With free agency beginning on July 1 this year, teams are finally allowed to talk with potential free agents.

The Broussard source said Howard is planning to speak with Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and then will return to Los Angeles to talk with the Lakers about re-signing. 

ESPNLosAngeles.com has a source who says that after meeting with those four teams (who are some of the only ones that can afford Howard's deal), he plans to make his decision as soon as the NBA's moratorium on new business is lifted on July 10.

Some close to Howard believe that signing with the Houston Rockets is his best option. With a young team like Houston, featuring a superstar-ready guard in James Harden, he'd be able to join a winning ball club that would also get him the ball.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey has long coveted the Lakers big man.

But sources close to Howard insist that Dallas is just as attractive an option and perhaps moreso, reports Broussard. The Mavericks' aging Dirk Nowitzki could alleviate some of the offensive strain on Howard, and they don't play the perimeter-oriented style of Houston, which Howard is reluctant to join.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban is one of the wealthiest men in the world and forking over $88 million would be a small drop in the pan for Cuban, plus with Shawn MArion's contract not guaranteed they can afford to sign him with their cap room.

But Dallas, Houston and Atlanta's offer is still not as much as the Lakers can spend and Howard has waffled on his decision-making before.

Before the 2011/12 season, he asked the Orlando Magic to trade him, but elected to opt-in for the final year of his contract after pressure from his Twitter followers, rather than become a free agent that following off-season.

So Howard could re-join the Lakers, but right now it looks like they're on the outside looking in.