Last summer, following the news that Demarcus Cousins suffered a torn ACL in his left knee, the Lakers unexpectedly gave Dwight Howard – who left Los Angeles infamously after a season in 2013 – a one-year contract. However, there was a catch.
With things ending with his final few teams, the Lakers want to prove to Howard that they have a season-long financial commitment before they are ready to become team players. They did so by signing a non-binding contract for Howard to drink the minimum of a person – the first non-binding contract of his explicit career.
To Howard’s credit, there was no major adjustment period. Soon, he accepted his role as the Lakers ’primary backup center and he played it well, so through the Western Conference Finals, Howard found a place in the starting lineup.
Howard’s return to relevance was the real story of the 2019-20 season, and the fact that he ended up with her winning his first championship made him even better. However, Howard has done with that chapter of his life.
That doesn’t mean Howard wants to leave the Lakers – in fact, during a recent interview Ethan Thomas of Basketball News, Howard said he would “love” to return to Los Angeles. But Howard also made it clear that he was no longer signing a non-guarantee agreement:
“I would love to. I would love to come back and play. You know, I think the season we had this year was like a test for all. We were trying to learn from each other and try to figure each other out, and In the process, we won the championship.I would love to have all of us come back.I would love to come back and play again for the Lakers.Hopefully this year they signed me … that’s the biggest thing.I don’t have to play for free anymore.
“This year, it was like, ‘OK, I’ll do anything,’ but I think I’ve got the right to have an opinion on the contract for myself. So that’s the biggest thing. But I would definitely love to come back and play for the Lakers. They have the best fans in the world. It’s been amazing. My wife plays for Sparks, so it would be nice for us to still be playing in the same city. ”
Howard will be a banned free agent when the free agency mortuary window opens on November 19, and there is a “mutual interest” between Howard and the Lakers in the deal, according to a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania in October. However, the Lakers are not the only team to struggle for Howard’s continued defensive output.
In the same report, Charania reports that Golden State Warriors plans to move Howard into a free agency. Like the Lakers, the Warriors will move to free agency over the pay cap, and because the Lakers do not have the right to their birds, most both teams can offer it without exception using the PV minimum.
Right now, it’s unclear what Howard’s expectations are when it comes to his salary, but at least (no pun intended), he wants a guaranteed deal, and after the tu with the Lakers, it shouldn’t be a deal – anyone Breaker for the team.
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