Dub Hub, Daily Warriors Links for 11/1/22: Should the Warriors sign free agent center Dwight Howard?

Good Morning Dub Nation,

Seven games into the regular season, the Golden State Warriors find themselves under .500 for the first time all year following their back-to-back losses over the past weekend. Their 3-4 record is not the start that fans expected from the defending champions, and many are quick to point to the team’s lack of experienced depth as the root cause of their struggles.

Because of this, calls to add more of a veteran presence to the team have been getting louder and louder as the losses begin to pile up. One veteran player who is interested in joining the team is free agent center Dwight Howard. In a recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Howard discussed how he could help the Warriors, and specifically third-year center James Wiseman.

“That’s perfect,” Howard said when asked if he’d be interested in joining the defending champions. “I’ve been a Warrior my whole life. I started out at my school as a Warrior. They need a big. I know they have Kevon Looney and I know they have the young boy (James) Wiseman, but I’m Dwight Howard. Wiseman can learn so much from me because he’s headed in that direction of being a great big man.”

At 36 years old, Howard has accomplished a lot in his 18 years in the league. He has eight All-Star appearances, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, and one NBA Championship. Last season, Howard appeared in 60 games for the Los Angeles Lakers averaging 6.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 16.2 minutes per game. Although he clearly isn’t the same player as he was in his prime, he has the right mindset to help a winning team like the Warriors who could use his veteran presence.

“I felt like me being a vet — helping out some of those young guys, those young bigs — it ain’t like I’m trying to come in and play 35-45 minutes,” Howard said earlier in the podcast as he made his case to potential NBA suitors.

“But I can give a team 20-25 minutes and give you a good 12 to 15 points and 10 rebounds. I can make sure the bench is hyped. Make sure everybody on the team is ready to go every day. I can do all that and that’s what I’ve been doing for 18 years. So, you know, if there is an opportunity for a team that really wants to win, ‘Put Dwight in!’”.

Here are the rest of today’s stories:

In case you missed it from Golden State of Mind:

• Preview: Warriors look for second straight series sweep over Heat
• Player grades: Warriors vs. Pistons
• Warriors exercise options on Wiseman, Kuminga, and Moody
• Making sense of the Warriors’ defensive shot profile

Other Warriors News:

• Dwight Howard says he is interested in joining the Warriors (Twitter)
• Warriors’ road struggles highlighted by decade-old troubling stat (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Santa Cruz Warriors host media day (KION 546)
• Find out the G-League Warriors’ least favorite Halloween candy (Twitter)

NBA News:

• NBA Power Rankings: Cavs surge into top 5; plus a new tier starring the Lakers and Nets (The Athletic)
• Myles Turner: Lakers should take ‘hard look’ at potential trade with Pacers (ESPN)
• Steve Nash on Kyrie Irving: Opportunity for Nets to ‘grow and understand new perspectives’ (ESPN)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named NBA Players of the Week (NBA)
• Clippers star Kawhi Leonard to miss at least 2 more games managing knee injury (Yahoo Sports)