After Unproductive Season, What Does the Future Hold for Josh Howard?

Josh Howard, who played college basketball at Wake Forest, was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 29th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Almost immediately, Howard and undrafted rookie Marquis Daniels became an integral part of the team then under Hall of Fame head coach Don Nelson. Howard was coming off the bench initially but did start 29 games during his rookie season.

It was not until the 2004-05 season that Howard joined the Mavericks starting lineup after an injury sidelined Marquis Daniels. Howard saw his scoring increase each season with the Mavericks, including averaging a career-high 19.9 points during the 2007-08 season. In 2007, Howard was named to the All-Star team after Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer could not take part due to injuries.

After the 2005-06 season, in which the Dallas Mavericks reached the NBA Finals only to lose to the Miami Heat after holding a two-to-zero series lead, things really took a turn for the worst for the Mavericks franchise. It was during this time that Howard saw his numbers stagnate and he dealt with multiple injuries, including knee surgery.

From the 2006-07 to the 2008-09 seasons, Howard was frustrated, having seen his production drop. He had been part of the early exits during the playoffs, leaving the Mavericks searching for answers as to how best to build their team with the right players in order to have success in the postseason.

So, not looking to re-sign Howard and looking to make some roster tweaks, the Mavericks talked to multiple teams that were interested in making a trade for the former All-Star forward. The Washington Wizards were also looking to completely rebuild their team in the wake of the Gilbert Arenas situation amongst other issues.

So, the Mavericks sent Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The acquisition of Haywood was a key piece to the trade, as he would play in front of, or behind, inconsistent center Erick Dampier. The Wizards later dealt Gooden to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team trade in which they received Al Thornton.

Josh Howard, who spent the last one-and-a-half seasons as a member of the Washington Wizards, is currently an unrestricted free agent. The small forward who was acquired from the Dallas Mavericks on February 13, 2010, played in only 22 games since joining the Wizards due to a knee ligament injury suffered against the Chicago Bulls on February 22, 2010.

Since joining the Wizards, Howard has seen his career take a turn for the worst. First it was the knee ligament injury and as a result of missing a lot of games, Howard was never in the “rotation." With the Wizards also rebuilding around John Wall, Andray Blatche and Nick Young, Howard was out of the mix even though he did play in 18 games in 2010-11 and now will get the opportunity to join another team in hopes of continuing his NBA career.

As an unrestricted free agent coming off a major injury, Howard has to prove that he can get back to playing like his old self, or close to, in order to secure a roster spot for the 2011-12 NBA season.