Dwight Howard will get his money, the full $5.6 million he opted into this summer. The man is getting paid.
The checks are just coming from two different teams.
To facilitate a move to the Lakers, Howard is giving back $2.6 million in a buyout with the Grizzlies — exactly how much he makes on a minimum contract with Los Angeles. From Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks of ESPN:
Sources: Dwight Howard surrendered nearly $2.6M of his $5.6M guaranteed salary to Memphis in buyout. He can earn $2.6M on his vet minimum deal with Lakers -- if he survives on roster past early January. Ideal outcome for Grizzlies, who never intended to bring Howard to camp. https://t.co/uLglUip1JT
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 24, 2019
Memphis reclaimed the full value of what Howard can make with the Lakers: $2.6M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 24, 2019
Memphis is well positioned ($7.4M) below the luxury tax to bypass the waive-and-stretch provision on Dwight Howard and keep his $3M cap hit. The Grizzlies will have 48-hours to decide once Howard is waived.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 24, 2019
Stretching Howard would see Memphis with a $1M cap hit over the next three seasons. The Grizzlies are one of a handful of teams that will have north of $25M+ in room in 2020-21. https://t.co/2JNEFkbsUr
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 24, 2019
My guess is the Grizzlies will just take the cap hit this season to get Howard off the books.
This is exactly how this was expected to go down financially if Howard came to Los Angeles. The risk for Howard is he will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Lakers — they can waive him for whatever reason, pay a small buyout fee, and Howard loses out on the $2.6 million.
That’s motivation for him to follow through on what he promised the team.