Veteran center Dwight Howard will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and he and the Lakers have mutual interest in working out a new contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
However, Los Angeles won’t be the only team looking to sign Howard. Sources tell Charania that the Warriors are among the potential contenders expected to have interest in the former three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
After missing nearly the entire 2018/19 season for health reasons, Howard bounced back in a big way in ’19/20, appearing in 69 regular season games and another 18 postseason contests for the Lakers.
The 34-year-old willingly took on a reduced role, playing a career-low 18.9 MPG. However, he made a major impact in that role, with 7.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.1 BPG, and a .729 FG%. Howard also flashed his old DPOY form in certain matchups, agitating Nikola Jokic during the Western Conference Finals.
As he enters his age-35 season, Howard won’t be in line for a big-money multiyear deal, but he could receive offers that exceed the minimum salary he earned in 2019/20. The Warriors will have the taxpayer mid-level exception (worth approximately $5.72MM) available and may decide to use some or all of that exception to make Howard an offer.
Golden State has some options at center, including Marquese Chriss, Kevon Looney, and Draymond Green, but may be seeking a more physical big man to share minutes at the five. Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area argued last week that Howard would be an ideal fit, suggesting he could be a lob threat on offense and would provide the same sort of physicality that veteran Warriors centers like Andrew Bogut and Zaza Pachulia did in previous years.
The Lakers hold Non-Bird rights on Howard, so if they want to offer him more than the minimum, they can go up to about $3.08MM using the Non-Bird exception. A more lucrative offer would mean dipping into their mid-level or bi-annual exception.
I posted two weeks ago
Offer 2 years 12 million MLE
Howard to be a Warriors starter
Warriors plan to draft wing
Howared isn’t going to any other team.. He spent years bouncing around And was happy last year also never hurts to have AD AND LeBron AS your teammates.. He’s made plenty of money now it’s about happiness and rings and cementing his legacy
I would agree with that Lakers1. I think he’s happy in L A, it works for him, they won a championship, and you’ll get a little raised. He’s made plenty of cash he’ll stay where he’s happy.
Who should the Lakers offer 5.72 million？
Morris is youngest
If Howard and Rondo want money
The warriors don’t have the cap space to sign Howard for six million.
Um, he could certainly get more rings with the Warriors.
Sure, if he time-traveled back 5 years ago he would. Warriors glory is in the past. They’ll be a playoff team next year, but not a contender.
Yeah no.. gsw has lost all there depth and Kd gone.. there window is closed
Lakers1, their window is not closed. You sound like all the guys are 36 years old? They have plenty left in the tank and have a two or three-year run left in them. Next year will be very interesting I just have my fingers crossed the Warriors will stay healthy. That’s the big “if.”
Curry’s game won’t age well, and my guess is, this last injury will put him firmly in the decline phase. Sure, KT is in his prime, but who else do you have? Wiggins is a nice player, but he’s not KD. Draymond Green is already showing signs of decline but was always just a complimentary player, despite the media’s infatuation with him.
By my count, they’re no better than 6th in the west, as Utah, Denver, Dallas and both LA times are either more talented and/or younger than Golden State.
I think we will be revisiting that statement sometime next year.
We don’t know what klay will be from the acl.. steph is another year older.. what did Barkley say about draymond green.. he leads league in triple singles. He fits his role in the team.. but losing Iguodala and Livingston are huge losses for that team.. they were guys that were vital to there success.They also played defense. steph plays no defense.. draymond is undersized at center.. lakers showed the world that having a big team still gets it done in this league.. they don’t have a center or a bench.. paschall maybe but the guys last year put up numbers on a bad team.. as kuzma showed, that’s pretty easy to do
I really can’t wait for the Lakers to get rid of Kuzma. He is heavily overrated and they are much better without him.
I would much rather see the Lakers keep Howard
Agreed with getting rid of kuzma.. he’s not a young player.. 3 years in college and 3 years in nba.. it seemed he just forgot how to play or was trying too hard to be hollywood.. maybe he looked good first two years because it’s easier to put up stats on a bad team.. he just didn’t seem hungry this year.. I’m sure he’ll ball this year since his rookie contract will be up after upcoming season
He really isn’t as bad as you guys claim. He is playing out of position same thing happened with ingram when lebron came aboard. I think a different team with a need at sf could be a fit for kuzma as he is a walking bucket. Would average 20 ppg a night on another team. I agree though I don’t like kuzma as a person, very annoying personality and demeanor but still a decent starting small forward.
Kuzma reminds me of another former Laker who only showed up occasionally: Elden Campbell. Lakers fans often referred to him has “Seldom” Campbell, for his habit of playing well one out of every 3 or 4 games.
My issue with him is the constant mental lapses.. the pouting.. he doesn’t attack the rim, settles for 3’s and thus his 3 pt shooting pct has gone down.. defense he’s an absolute liability..doesn’t rebound or get assists.. showed up once every 3 games.. lakers played 21 games in playoffs and he was in double figures 10 times..averaging 22-24 minutes..you shot not falling, affect the game in other ways.. championship habits.. he just doesn’t have it.. Herro was a 19 year old rookie.. kuzma played 3 years in college and 3rd year pro.. who made a bigger impact for their team?kuzma needs to figure it out..
Yeah I could see him averaging 20ppg on a bad team, similar to Monta Ellis. Like Monta his efficiency rating and box plus minus will be below average, and bad analytics, but hey, even someone one bad teams need to put the ball in the basket
Lern English or get off ur parent komputer.
Lern ain’t no word!
Warriors will have much better depth next year and next 5 years than Lakers
The biggest concern is that Warriors are too old next 5 years
Lakers have Kuzma 25 years old？
lmao, you wish it was closed. Steph doesn’t need much to destroy the league again, you put some respect on his name.
LOL…I thought we’d never see Strike Four again, especially after his beloved Warriors failed to get out of the WC basement to grab the eight seed and win the Chip, as he predicted.
As I said above, they’re definitely a playoff team when healthy, but with their two best players coming off career-altering injuries, they’re no better than 6th in the West.
But look at the bright side, you still have tall players, a great coach and a strong front office, so you’re in far better shape than the Rockets!
According to Livingston all players want money
If you think 12 million is not important for a player who has 20 wives or girlfriends, you are not mature
Polygamy is not legal in the US.
Hahahaha!
DH is just a goon these days ……. still, any contending team can use someone like him, give him spot minutes.
DH gotta feed his 4 families. Help him Bob.
Tooo true!!!!!!
Oh no, Warriors would never be interested in Howard, they only play small ball, so I’m told.
Small ball is three guards and one small forward. Then you plug in a shot-blocking center who gets every single rebound or tries to. Andrew Bogut in the Warriors case. Clint capela in the Rockets case.
You can’t call it small ball when you have a 7fter on the floor. Real small ball lineups have playmaking, shooting but no rim protection The rockets this season was the perfect example.
In the past that was called small ball. 4 little guys and then your Center. In the old days that was called small ball because teams generally had a center and a big power forward and then the small forward and two guards.
Parish and McHale, Laimbeer and James Edwards or Mahorn, Kareem and Michael Thompson, Ralph Sampson and Olajuwon, David Robinson & Tim Duncan, Moses Malone & Caldwell Jones, Perkins & Garnett.. so generally in the past 2 big guys up front. Small ball would be as I said four little guys but one Center.
Today so many teams are playing small ball that small ball now is 5 little guys as the Rockets do. Or The Warriors with green at Center. So yes you’re correct when focusing on today’s game. I guess I was thinking more in the past because I’m an old guy. Sometimes what happened 15 years ago seems like yesterday.
I am going to go place some money on the Warriors now. See ya.
DH12 would make GSW better for sure if they can get him, just can’t see why he would wanna go there when he can stay on the LAL, the only team willing to give him a chance last year, GSW should want him, no doubt about it but they missed their chance at him!
Correction: he IS a free agent, so they did not miss any chance to sign him, they have that chance, right now.
Warriors don’t have the cap space to sign him.
Warriors could use taxpayer mid-level exception which is about $5.7 million
We shall see if they are hard capped. They are already way over the apron.
If they are hard capped they cannot sign anyone.
There is a salary cap article about the Warriors situation below that says they can use their $17.4 M Igoudala exception and their $5.7 M exception but would have to pay tax. They are not hardcapped with the exceptions. One thing I did not know is the $17.4 can be divided so they could get 2 or 3 players as long as their combined salary does not exceed $17.4M.