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Despite having a potential opening at center this offseason, the Golden State Warriors don’t appear ready to pursue Dwight Howard.
Per Marc Stein of the New York Times, the Warriors “insist” they won’t go after the eight-time All-Star.
Howard is currently under contract for next season, but ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes noted the veteran center and Brooklyn Nets agreed to enter buyout talks when his trade to the team becomes official on July 6.
The Nets agreed to acquire Howard from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Timofey Mozgov, two second-round draft picks and cash on June 21.
Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports initially threw out the idea of Golden State going after Howard:
“Howard was at his peak in 2009, when he led the Orlando Magic over LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers and into the Finals. Surrounded by shooters who afforded him room to operate in the post or as the roll man in Stan Van Gundy’s ahead-of-its-time spread motion offense, he made 70 percent of his 560 attempts in the restricted area. Defensively, he was a monster, leading the league in blocks and rebounding and generally erasing his teammates’ mistakes in one of the league’s best defenses.”
However, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater threw cold water on that fire because the Warriors already laid out their plan to “go young, hungry and smaller” and the front office was still “feeling [the] sting” of Nick Young’s disappointing season after signing with the team last summer.
The Warriors have Jordan Bell as their lone center with a contract guaranteed for next season. Howard had a productive season for the Hornets in 2017-18, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in 81 games.
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