LAS VEGAS – FEBRUARY 17: Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic participates in the Sprite Slam Dunk … [+]
Dwight Howard is scheduled to work out Thursday with Golden State Warriors stars Draymond Green and Chris Paul in the next step towards him joining the team as a veteran big man.
The news was first reported by Jason Dumas of Bleacher Report, and confirmed to me by a league source.
Green also appeared to validate the news with this Tweet.
Howard, 37, is an eight-time NBA All-Star and 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.
He has career NBA averages of 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. His most recent season in the NBA was with the Lakers in 2021-22 when he averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds.
He spent last season with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League, where he was named the Most Valuable Import of the league.
As my Forbes colleague DJ Siddiqi points out, Howard is expected to sign with the Warriors on the veteran’s minimum, which this year is about $3.2 million.
Golden State’s two primary big men — the 6-6 Green and the 6-9 Kevon Looney — are somewhat undersized.
Howard would give the Warriors a 6-10 veteran big man who could help defend both Nikola Jokic, the 7-foot two-time MVP of the NBA champion Denver Nuggets, and 6-11 Lakers big man Anthony Davis, who in August agreed to a three-year, $186 million maximum contract extension,
