Dwight Howard is poised to head to Brooklyn in a trade between the Nets and Hornets, but Howard may not remain a Net for long.
According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Howard has expressed interest in a buyout, and the Nets will attempt to accommodate him. The two sides are expected to finalize an agreement that will allow Howard to reach free agency sometime after Charlotte and Brooklyn complete their trade in the new league year, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
“I want to be in a situation where I have an opportunity to help a team win,” Howard told Haynes. “That’s my only goal. All I need is a real chance and a clean slate where it’s not people talking about my past.”
Howard is coming off a productive 2017/18 season in which he averaged 16.6 PPG, 12.5 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 81 games for the Hornets. Despite his solid numbers, there’s a perception that Howard isn’t a great fit for teams in terms of chemistry and locker-room presence. He’ll be moving onto his fourth team in the last four seasons, but pushes back on the idea that he’s not a great teammate.
“If you come into the locker room, I’m literally somebody that tries to bring joy in the locker room,” Howard told Haynes. “I try to talk to everybody to get to know them more on a personal level. But I’m not somebody that goes around trying to destroy your team or the locker room because I want to win, but now that I’ve been traded, that seems like it’s a subject to get people to talk about that instead of the value that I bring to a team.”
Howard, who likely would have backed up Jarrett Allen if he remained in Brooklyn, has a $23.5MM salary for 2018/19, so it will be interesting to see how much of that money he’s willing to give up to find a new team. Dwyane Wade‘s buyout last summer could be a logical point of reference — Wade had a $23MM+ expiring contract too, and gave back about $8MM to complete a buyout with the Bulls, though Brooklyn might not drive as hard a bargain as Chicago did.
Howard is expected to draw interest from contending teams if and when he becomes a free agent, writes Haynes.
Wasn’t even the best athlete in the Barclays Center. I’m looking at you John Tavares.
Bucks should get him and release / trade Henson
I think the Bucks are a pretty natural fit. Would definitely need to look into trading Henson (and Delladova hopefully..).
I would be more than happy to see him with the Cavaliers IF it’s determined whether or not LBJ and Howard have a good pre-existing relationship. From what I’ve been told, a lot of the reasons why he is seen as a bad lockeroom guys tend to stem from really childish kids who forget they are no longer in the streets. I say this based off of an interview I read coming from Gary Payton discussing the time Durant called Howard a “p-word” when he was with the Rockets.
As far as on the floor, I’ve heard he wants more touches but doesn’t set screens and switch on defense with conviction. I think that LBJ might be able to placate him with giving him easy baskets (because he’s consummate passer who will get the ball to you if your open or have a mismatch) and I think he HOPEFULLY will be humbled enough to know what his narrative is and wants to win a chip and will realize that matching up with LBJ might be his best bet. If he were to join the Cavs with LBJ he would be on national TV on a regular basis, something he hasn’t had since LA.
Bucks are where he should be. Agreed. I wanted him 2 years ago.
This is extremely interesting. He could theoretically end up somewhere legit for nothing.
Was there bad blood in Houston? Rockets could let Capela go. Go for Lebron. Have Lebron, Harden, Paul, Howard
Yea there was / harden pushed him out
I bet he’s on Lebron’s team. Wherever he ends up.
Dwight’s should have explained this to his last 3 teams, or should to his next one, not fan bases through a reporter. The trades made by the Hawks and Hornets, and now this buyout, indicate his numbers and optics were and are being discounted by three organizations.
To be fair Charlotte, Hawks didn’t need him they weren’t winning. He could end up on golden state that’s a scary thought. The one spot they lack at center
James harden was the problem in Houston, and still is. Dennis Schroeder was the issue with Atlanta, and still is. In Charlotte, my guess is there are a couple of salty bigs that were stuck behind him…
Why did we hear good things about him while he played for these last 2 teams, and then as soon as he gets traded, we hear the opposite? Obviously, there is an easy narrative to point to for these teams, and they know it.
His reputation has taken such unfair hits since he left Orlando. It’s the thing I’m worried about for Bamba. People apparently dont like guys with a smile on their face in this league
only a handful of teams he makes sense for
seeing him in golden state would be terrifying for the league. he has to make a choice does he want to win or does he want to make money.
No one is paying a lot so I’d suspect this is a year solely on a championship.
Options Boston can trade away horford in a deal if they want to and sign Howard. I love horford but he’s not worth 25 million
See where Lebron signs.
Golden state
Pelicans and they move on from Cousins
Houston makes sense but probably won’t happen.
Sixers make no sense
I think is a shame for DH12, when he started in Orlando, there were all the brainless comparisons with Shaq, so he was overrated, since then I think he has been underrated, last year he had a monster season & to me he deserves more credit. So hopefully he can find the team where he is happy, that is always the important, winning or not, that is secondary in life, happiness is everything.
Prime Dwight Howard is one of the greatest defenders ever. He covered ridiculous amount of ground
I think he would fit in fine on the Cavs.