The Magic, Lakers, Rockets, Hawks and Hornets all grew tired of Dwight Howard.
The Nets did it in record time.
After acquiring Howard in a trade from Charlotte yesterday, Brooklyn is moving toward shedding him.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports:
Dwight Howard is expected to finalize a buyout with the Brooklyn Nets and enter free agency once trade is complete on July 6, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2018
In the trade, the Nets dumped Timofey Mozgov’s $16.72 million salary for 2019-20. Now, they could get a reduction on Howard’s $23,819,725 expiring contract. Brooklyn is doing a great job of unloading bad money.
Next year, the Nets will have their own first-round pick for the first time in six years. Though he has declined considerably from his Hall of Fame peak, Howard can still play some. Brooklyn didn’t need him interfering with its tanking and culture.
Instead, the Nets can focus on developing Jarrett Allen and losing enough to secure the best draft position possible.
It’ll be interesting to see how much Howard surrenders and where he goes. Again, he can still play. But the league is moving away from traditional centers, and he’s high maintenance.
