Dwight Howard enjoyed something of a renaissance this season in Los Angeles. After several years of bouncing around to different teams and mostly failing to find a niche as a reliable productive contributor, he took one of the more circuitous routes anyone could’ve imagined and ended up at the sight of one of his most infamous flame-outs.
But Lakers fans proved they could forgive and forget, and under LeBron James’ veteran leadership, Howard settled into the type of role that fits him best at this point of his career and proved to be solid rotation player in a championship team. His future with the team was uncertain heading into free agency, so when the moratorium opened on Friday night, Howard appeared to settle that lingering question when he tweeted that he was re-signing with the Lakers.
That turned out to be premature, however, and Howard was quickly forced to delete the tweet when a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated that he and the Lakers had not reached a deal and that Howard was still exploring his options. A couple hours later, it appears Howard won’t be staying in L.A. after all, as he’s reportedly agreed to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
Free agent Dwight Howard has agreed to a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent Charles Briscoe tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020
The Dwight Howard contract in Philadelphia is for the veteran minimum exception of $2.6M, per league sources.
The cap hit is $1.6M
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 21, 2020
He’ll likely fill a similar role as he did in Los Angeles as a reserve center to come off the bench and play defense and catch lobs. The deal reunites Dwight with Daryl Morey, the former Rockets exec who joined Philadelphia’s front office last month after parting ways with Houston.