While he may be thousands of miles away right now, Dwight Howard has not given up hope on a return to the Association.
Speaking this week with Mark Haynes of the Sacramento Observer, the ex-NBA Defensive Player of the Year Howard said that he has a particular team in mind as he looks to make an NBA comeback next season. Howard wants to join the Sacramento Kings.
“I’m not retired from the NBA just yet,” said Howard. “I would love to help the Sacramento Kings contend for a title. Even though I believe their team is pretty much set.
“I like [Kings head coach] Mike Brown,” Howard continued. “I think he is an amazing coach, and what he accomplished this season was very impressive. The thing that stood out most this year was the contracts that players signed accepting their roles and actually sticking with it no matter what. I think the Kings will continue to get better with experience.”
You can read Howard’s full interview with Haynes here.
The upstart Kings have one of the brightest futures in the entire NBA. They seemingly came out of nowhere to win 48 games and the Pacific Division title this season en route to their very first playoff berth since 2006. But while Sacramento was carried by their historic, fast-paced offense under Brown, who also was the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year, they still lack some defense and size (which was obvious in their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors). Behind All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, the Kings relied on Alex Len (a fringe NBA player at this point) and 6-foot-9 Chimezie Metu for frontcourt minutes. That will not cut it if Sacramento wants to take another leap forward next season.
For Howard, 37, he is currently playing in Taiwan for the Taoyuan Leopards. Howard was still decently productive during his previous NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021-22, posting 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in a mere 16.2 minutes per game. The eight-time NBA All-Star is also delivering Chamberlain-esque stat lines in Taiwan right now, so perhaps Howard can convince the Kings or another NBA team to kick the tires on him.
