The Los Angeles Lakers already lost one key piece to their team ahead of the NBA Restart at Walt Disney World and while they are confident their team will mostly stay the same, other than the eventual signing of J.R. Smith, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka admitted that their full roster + Smith isn’t quite a done deal.
Dwight Howard, one of the most important players on the Lakers this season, has not yet fully committed to joining the Lakers due to extenuating circumstances involving his six-year-old son, according to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka. The mother of his son passed away a few months ago. Avery Bradley already opted out of the season, citing his young son’s recovery from a respiratory illness.
Via Christian Rivas of SB Nation
“And we, as you guys know, there was an opt-out date that Dwight did not give notice that he was opting out, so we are going to continue to work through those extenuating circumstances with Dwight, support him, support his six-year-old son, and hope for the best that he would be a part of our roster in Orlando. But that will be a continued process.”
The Lakers remain hopeful that Howard will join them, but he’s obviously dealing with some very difficult circumstances, in addition to his concerns that resuming the NBA season would be a distraction from current social justice issues.
If they lose Howard, that will be a crucial loss, forcing Anthony Davis to likely play more center and cause them to rely more on JaVale McGee. But Howard’s current predicament is clearly bigger than wins, losses or championship rings.
