5 potential Cavs free agency options for backup PG and backup C

5 Cavs potential backup C options – #4: Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard has bounced around the league quite a bit as of late. Over the course of the last 5 seasons, he has suited up for the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers twice as well as the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s fine to consider him a journeyman at this point of his career.

Now that the dust has settled on the 2021-22 campaign, Howard could once again be looking to make a move. If so, Cleveland would represent an opportunity to mentor some youthful bigs as well as get a decent dosage of playtime to keep Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley fresh throughout the season.

The Cavs need bruisers and Howard is still very much capable of being an irritant on the defensive side of the floor. He still provides a high level of rim-protection and can get up to reject shots. This is something he did with authority once upon a time as a 3x DPOY. The 8x All-Star is still quite the rim-roller and finisher around the rim which would be a great addition to have with a guard like Garland in town.

I would love to see Garland-to-Howard lobs although he seems a little more ground bound than he was in years past. Much of his offensive production comes off of putbacks and something which I never thought I’d see him lean on and that is the floater out of the elbows.

Howard is an unrestricted free agent and made about $2.6 million this past year. At 36 years old, his time as a starter is far behind him outside of the occasional spot start so the Cavs wouldn’t have to worry about his role and fit with the team. He is still pretty efficient at what he does and would be a great low-cost option for the team, seemingly via minimum deal.