Trade nets Howard for Brooklyn
The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade eight-time All-Star center Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for center Timofey Mozgov and two second-round draft picks, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press yesterday.
The Hornets will get the Nets’ second-round pick tonight (45th overall) and a second-round pick in 2021, the person said. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the teams have not announced the trade and the league cannot approve the deal until the trade moratorium ends on July 6.
The 32-year-old Howard played only one season for Charlotte, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. He is due to make $23.8 million this season, the final year of his contract.
Brooklyn will be Howard’s fourth team in as many seasons. He had pushed for a trade from Orlando to the Nets during the 2011-12 season in hopes of joining Deron Williams, then changed his mind and recommitted to the Magic, who instead dealt him to the Lakers that summer.
After later spending three seasons with the Houston Rockets, Howard was acquired by his hometown Atlanta Hawks in 2016 as a free agent and signed a three-year contract. But he wore out his welcome after one season and was dealt to Charlotte. The Hornets, in the midst of a major organizational shakeup, having already replaced their general manager and coach, could be on the verge of shaking up their roster, too.
Howard struggled to mesh with guard Nicolas Batum, and the Hornets failed to make the playoffs despite what former coach Steve Clifford considered the team’s most talented roster in half a decade.
This is a reunion of sorts for Mozgov. Recently hired Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak signed Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million deal in 2016 when both were with the Los Angeles Lakers.
London calling again
The NBA will return to London next year with a regular-season game between the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks.
Tickets for the Jan. 17 game at the O2 Arena go on sale in the fall.
It will be the NBA’s ninth regular-season game in London, all sellouts. The Knicks have played there twice, facing the Detroit Pistons in 2013 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2015. This will be the Wizards’ debut in London.