Getty Dwight Howard, right, and former teammate Dennis Schroder
The Lakers pulled off a decisive move on Sunday, ahead of the official removal of the NBA’s transaction moratorium, trading for Thunder guard Dennis Schroder, sending out wing Danny Green and a draft pick for a guy who will bolster their backcourt and has averaged 14.1 points and 4.6 assists in his seven-year career.
But things could get awkward depending on how the Lakers fill out their bench from here. That is because one of the big contributors to the L.A. bench last season was center Dwight Howard, who was a teammate of Schroder when both players were in Atlanta in 2016-17.
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Schroder, it turned out, was less than impressed by Howard’s commitment to the game.
The year after the Hawks traded Howard away, Schroder told reporters, “He plays always great against his former team. Credit to him too, but that’s like four games each year, you know? Houston, L.A., us.”
Indeed, that season, Howard was stellar against the Hawks, averaging 22.8 points, most against any other team he played more than two times. But he averaged 16.6 points overall.
“I think he’s always giving his best (against former teams) but the others games he …” Schroder did not fill in that blank, but only shrugged.
Dwight Howard Will Be a Free Agent
The implication was clear: Schroder did not think much of Howard’s efforts. Once he becomes a Laker, there will be some air to clear that.
That, though, is uncertain. The Lakers signed Howard to only a one-year contract last summer, and he will be a free agent next week. It remains uncertain whether Howard will be back with the team.
The champs 💪🔥 🏆 @DwightHoward @CaldwellPope
He played well off the bench for L.A., averaging 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, his first stint as a reserve player in his 16 NBA seasons. He shot an incredible 72.9% from the field, appearing in 69 games.
That revival season could be enough to draw a decent offer from another team. The Lakers might not be able to afford to keep him in place.
Dwight Howard Wore Out His Welcome With Schroder’s Hawks
It would be no surprise, though, if Howard is not welcome back in Los Angeles.
“Teams tend to have a short window where they get their fill of Dwight Howard, that has been the pattern,” one Eastern Conference general manager told Heavy.com recently. “He can be a lot to handle. He can be loud, he can be demanding. He is not as disruptive now that he is older but his personality can chafe the people around him and after a year, they’re ready to let him go. The Lakers are at that point with him, they will have other options in the offseason for a backup center. He did a nice job for them but I would think they’re ready to move on.”
Howard does not have a long shelf life with any team for which he has played in recent years. He signed a bloated, three-year, $70 million contract with the Hawks in 2016 after he had worn out his welcome in Houston.
Atlanta traded him to Charlotte after just one season and ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted on his podcast that, when that trade went through, stories spread about, “Hawks players learning about the trade and screaming with jubilation into their phones.”
The Hornets traded Howard to Brooklyn for, essentially, cash and a second-round pick. The Nets promptly waived him, and he signed with the Wizards. He could not stay healthy, though, playing only nine games for Washington.
He might have gone without a job at all this season if not for the knee injury suffered by DeMarcus Cousins last August, just ahead of the 2019-20 season. With Cousins out, the Lakers signed Howard in desperation.
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