Lakers slow-played Dwight Howard with contract offer

Dwight Howard may not have ditched the Los Angeles Lakers so much as they may have stood him up.

Howard tweeted at the start of free agency on Friday that he was returning to the Lakers. However, he quickly deleted the tweet and later agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.

So what happened?

According to Yahoo’s Chris B. Haynes, Howard thought he had an offer from the Lakers for $3 million. The center accepted, thinking it was a done deal. However, the Lakers apparently said that no formal offer was made and they only had a “deal concept.” They told Howard they needed to talk with ownership for approval.

Howard waited for about an hour without hearing back and decided to move on. He was pursued by new 76ers front office leader Daryl Morey, as well as Joel Embiid. He even took $2.6 million from Philly, which is less than the Lakers supposedly were offering.

It sure sounds like the Lakers slow-played Howard, and we now know it was for a very good reason.