http://www.nba.com/2010/news/07/28/wizards.howard/

The Washington Wizards reached agreement Wednesday on a one-year deal with free

agent forward Josh Howard, who finished last season with Washington. The deal

can pay Howard close to $4 million if he reaches certain incentives, according

to his consultant, Derek Lafayette.

The 30-year-old Howard would likely have been in line for a bigger payday this

summer -- the Celtics, Bulls and Cavaliers had all expressed varying degrees of

interest, according to Lafayette -- but Howard is recovering from an torn ACL

suffered just a week after he was part of the trade that sent Caron Butler,

Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas. Howard played in four games

for the Wizards, averaging 14.5 points, and impressed the Wizards with his hard

play and attitude in going from a contender to a rebuilding team.

But the Wizards renounced their rights to Howard in July to facilitate the

trade that brought Kirk Hinrich and the rights to first-round pick Kevin

Serphin from Chicago. Washington wanted to re-sign Howard, but not at a high

price. The Wizards had about $5 million left in cap room after their various

offseason moves, including the Hinrich trade, acquiring forward Yi Jianlian

from the Nets and signing veteran center Hilton Armstrong.

"A lot of teams were interested, but his heart and soul was in Washington,"

said Lafayette, who allowed that Howard may have signed elsewhere if there was

more money in the rapidly-dwindling free agent market. Howard fell out of favor

in Dallas, though owner Mark Cuban denied a report that Howard partied hard

after a January game, which caused him to miss a game the following night.

Howard saw a doctor Tuesday and is doing well in his rehabilitation. He's back

doing some running and is on schedule to be back on the court by late October,

Lafayette said, though the Wizards don't expect Howard to be ready for the

start of the regular season. Washington's only other natural small forward is

veteran Al Thornton, acquired from the Ciippers at the trade deadline.

昔日球星淪落到人家只跟他簽一年....