We have heard plenty about how the Los Angeles Lakers are making it clear to Dwight Howard: either it will be different this time, or you’re gone. But such statements alone aren’t much of a threat and until Monday, we’d known that Howard’s contract was non-guaranteed but we didn’t know just how precarious his contract with the Lakers is.
As Howard tries for a fresh start in every sense, including his jersey number, his contract currently has zero guaranteed dollars and only includes a provision of $6,000 if he gets injured during training camp, according to ESPN’s cap guru Bobby Marks. He will only earn money on his contract when he plays a game.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Howard’s contract wouldn’t become fully guaranteed until January of 2020 but to hear that Howard has essentially zero guaranteed dollars going to him is pretty incredible to think about considering he’s a future Hall of Famer and the Lakers desperately need another center. However, given how things went the last time in L.A. and how Howard has struggled to latch on to teams over the last few years, it’s hard to blame the Lakers for protecting themselves against history repeating itself.
