Former All-Star Josh Howard plans on signing to play in the D-League, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’s part of an NBA comeback attempt for the 35-year-old who nonetheless remains open to an overseas deal, Spears adds. Howard, who averaged 19.9 points per game for the Mavs in 2007/08, was last under NBA contract with the Spurs, who signed him and quickly waived him in 2013 to grab his D-League rights.
The Spurs still have those D-League rights, since he played for their affiliate within the past two seasons. Howard averaged 14.7 points in 29.5 minutes per game for San Antonio’s D-League team over 24 appearances in 2013/14, decent numbers that nonetheless signaled that his game was far from its peak. He last saw NBA regular season action with the Timberwolves in 2012/13, when he put up 6.7 points in 18.8 minutes per contest over 11 appearances before he suffered a torn right ACL.
Howard might be best known for admitting in 2008 that he used marijuana in the offseason. Still, he was a key part of the Mavericks before and after that remark. His career took a downturn when he tore the ACL in his left knee four games into his brief tenure with the Wizards, who acquired him from Dallas in a trade midway through the 2009/10 season. He’s played in only 76 NBA games since then.