5 teams that should jump at the chance to sign free agent Dwight Howard

1. Dwight Howard would give the Miami Heat superb backup minutes.

Center depth is thin in South Beach. Behind star big man Bam Adebayo, the Miami Heat have a trio of Dewayne Dedmon, Omer Yurtseven and ‘not an assistant coach’ Udonis Haslem in his self-proclaimed final season. Dedmon was a net negative on a 53-win team last year as the veteran began to lose a step on both sides of the floor. Yurtseven, a Turkish seven-footer who has shown promise at just 24, has a decent chance at cracking the rotation in his place.

Yet the veteran Heat might need to lean on someone with more experience when it’s time for Adebayo to rest come Playoff time. That’s where Howard, who remains in fantastic shape, would shine. Miami was in the middle of the pack in terms of rebounding on both the offensive and defensive glass a year ago. Their lack of free-agent movement surely didn’t help them address this deficiency, so a Howard pickup could be their key to boosting those numbers via the second unit.

A member of the 2020 title team that beat Miami in the Orlando Bubble, Dwight Howard knows what it takes to compete at the highest level and that’s the primary focus for the Heat this year.