Dwight Howard is officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Proudly wearing his new number 39 for the purple and gold. But Laker fans before you get excited about this new addition to the team, I gotta tell you the spicy details of the whole agreement. Let me explain. What up everybody my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
After beefing with Harden and leaving the Rockets, Howard had forgettable stints with Atlanta, Charlotte, and Washington.
Each press conference in a new uniform he talked about finally getting rid of his ego and understanding his role. And still, he left every one of these places on a bad note.
So how does this relate to the Lakers, and why do they trust him to come to LA for a second time, when the initial run was already a fiasco.
Well that’s the most interesting detail in this whole situation. They don’t necessarily show a high level of belief, since the actual contract guarantees Dwight a grand total of $0.
This means that every day that Howard is on the roster, he will get around 15 thousand and the Lakers have the option to cut him at any moment. No strings attached. This is crazy but that’s how the organization feels like they would keep him on a short leash and under control.
And to me this is a unique scenario of both hitting rock bottom, and at the same time getting a great chance to save his career.
Think about it, on one side, after spiralling downwards playing for the Hawks, Hornets and the Wizards, he reaches a point where a team is basically treating him like a G-League player.
But on the other hand, that team has 2 of the best players in the league, who are going to be doing the heavy lifting, and Howard’s only job would be to hold his own at the center position and not be a distraction by asking for more touches or playing time.
Which to his credit, it seems like Dwight finally, eventually learned his lesson and is coming to his senses about his role, and the way his career is going.
There have been multiple reports of him impressing Lebron during his workout, he came in great shape, being 25 pounds lighter than last season.
And most important, Howard had talks with Jason Kidd as well as the Lakers management, emphasizing how focused and determined he is on saving his career and performing at a high level.
And seeing how quickly Carmelo Anthony disappeared from the NBA, and seeing how he is struggling to convince a team to sign him, I believe that this is the final, and ultimate chance that Dwight Howard is going to get from an NBA team, so he needs to make the most out of it.
Either he is going to be adding a few more years to his NBA journey, or this is the last that we will ever hear from Howard.
And honestly, if this is his last shot in the league, it’s good to know that it’s gonna be an alley oop from Lebron James.
See what I did there? That sounded poetic. Anyway let me know in the comments how you think this is going to play out.
That’s it for now, if you liked this video, subscribe and hit the notification bell so that you don’t miss my future in depth analysis. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.
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