Three hundred and fifty-nine days after signing with the team, Dwight Howard's time in Washington has come to an end.
The
Washington Wizards dealt the veteran center to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange small forward
CJ Miles Friday night, according to multiple media reports. The Wizards had been actively shopping Howard for several weeks, per The Washington Post's
Candace Buckner.
“C.J. is respected around the league for his defense, three-point shooting and leadership,” Wizards interim GM
Tommy Sheppard said in a statement Saturday announcing the trade. “All of those qualities appealed to us in making this deal and we look forward to him making a positive impact on our team.”
Howard's career with the Wizards, which
began with him missing time due to an injury and was
later cut short due to injury, ends after just nine games played. In all, the future Hall of Fame center played 230 minutes, made 43-of-69 field goal attempts and grabbed 83 total rebounds. He scored 115 points for Washington and was paid around $5.37 million.
Miles, who was a second-round pick in 2005, is now on his sixth NBA franchise after splitting last season with the Toronto Raptors and Grizzlies. He arrived in Memphis at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Marc Gasol to Toronto for Jonas Valanciunas and Delon Wright.
In 53 games played in 2018-19, Miles averaged 6.4 points in 16.2 minutes per game. Miles, who turned 32 in March, is a career.359 three-point shooter and averaged over double digits in points in each of his previous four seasons while playing over 64 games.
The deal will cost the Wizards about $3.1 million, as Miles is due $8.73 million for the 2019-20 season compared to the $5.6 million Howard was owed after he opted-in to his player option. The Grizzlies are planning to waive eight-time NBA All-Star Howard, per Shams Charania.
Wizards have desperately needed a 3 for their roster. CJ Miles is that — and is another high-character locker room presence Tommy Sheppard has wanted to add to the locker room.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz)
July 6, 2019 This is another big decision made by interim president Tommy Sheppard. Either he’s the guy long-term, or he is being tasked with creating a blank slate for someone else.
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS)
July 6, 2019 Wizards have wanted Miles for years, going back to the days when he regularly torched them when he was with Indy...
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc)
July 6, 2019 Follow @BenKrimmel and @1067theFan on Twitter.
