Washington Wizards: Pros and Cons of Dwight Howard’s Player Option
By Ethan Smith
In one of the least surprising moves we’ll see this off-season, Dwight Howard has accepted his player option for next season with the Washington Wizards. Will year two be any better?
In the summer of 2018, Dwight Howard was traded from the Charlotte Hornets and then immediately bought out of his $23.5 million salary by the Brooklyn Nets.
Soon, the Washington Wizards became Dwight Howard’s fourth team in four years (Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards), signing the future Hall of Fame big man to a two-year, $11 million dollar deal, with a player option for the second year.
Yesterday, Howard opted into his $5.6 million player option for the 2019-20 season. Zach Lowe was first to report the news.
Not a shocker obviously, but Dwight Howard has opted into his $5.6 million deal for next season (player option) with Washington, sources say.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) April 19, 2019
Not a shocker at all.
Howard arrived in D.C. as the answer to John Wall‘s plea for a more athletic big man after spending years with Marcin Gortat. For Howard, Wall is the best point guard he’s ever had. And Howard is the best center Wall’s played with at the NBA level. Hopes were high but injuries had different plans for the both of them.
After playing in only 9 games last season, it is still not exactly clear how Howard fits with the Wizards team. Plus, we’ve yet to see how he performs since his recent back surgery in November. The fact that it’s taking a bit longer to recover than expected certainly isn’t encouraging, though.
But it is not all bad. Here are the pros and cons to Howard accepting his player option.