Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has the ball knocked away by Dwight Howard of the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center on April 19, 2021.
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The Dubs will meet with Dwight Howard next week as they continue exploring “signing a reserve veteran big man,” according to Shams Charania. The Warriors are apparently running a vibe check on the notoriously grating Howard first. Dubs coach Steve Kerr is reportedly “most interested in Dwight’s mindset.”
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Howard is entering his 20th season as a professional basketball player. After winning an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 alongside Davis, Howard had one semi-productive season with the Philadelphia 76ers (7 points, 8.4 rebounds per game) before returning to the Lakers for the 2021-22 season where he started 27 games for an injured Davis, but saw his averages dip to career lows (6.2 points, 5.9 rebounds per game).
Howard played last season in Taiwan, where he put up ridiculous numbers against very sub-par competition — he averaged a double-double (23.2 points, 16.2 rebounds), scored 37 points in an All-Star MVP performance and led the league in rebounding, despite being hobbled at times with a knee injury.
And while the Warriors clearly wouldn’t be getting anything close to peak Howard, they would be getting a 6-foot-10, 265-pounder to throw at Davis.
In 15 career playoff games against the Dubs, Davis has averaged 26.3 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while shooting 52.6% from the field. He finished a +31 in the Lakers’ Game 6 close-out of the Warriors in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinals and gave the Dubs fits for large chunks of the series.
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“I think we have everything you can ask for,” Pachulia told 95.7 The Game at the time. “We have veteran leadership, we have superstars, we have megastars, we have amazing role players and we have amazing young talent.”