Dwight Howard’s very weird and awkward free agency decision, explained

What a twist.

The NBA’s free agency period is upon us and, yes, it has been a complete whirlwind.

Players are switching teams every hour. There are trades galore.It’s your typical NBA offseason, packed into just a couple days. Of course it was going to be a frenzy.

Of course, with this quick turnaround, there has been a bit of miscommunication in some instances. One of those instances was with Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers.

One minute he was coming back to LA to help defend their title, the next minute he was a Philadelphia 76er. It was all so weird. Here’s how it happened.

Dwight really thought he was a Laker

Last night just after 7 p.m. ET, Howard tweeted that he was going to remain a Laker.

Literally, minutes later, that tweet was deleted. And The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that there was actually no deal done between the two sides.

And then, about an hour later, he was the 76ers new backup center.

WHEW what an hour that was. Everything was so incredibly confusing for a second there. But of course it was. It’s Dwight Howard! It’s the Lakers! We should expect drama at this point.

What really happened

Dwight and the Lakers were negotiating a deal when free agency started. Howard and the Lakers put together a “concept” deal, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes, that would’ve had him returning to the team on a one year, $3 million contract.

Howard thought that if he agreed to that concept deal that he’d essentially be agreeing to a new deal to return to the team. That wasn’t the case.

A concept deal is just that — a concept. It wasn’t an actual contract to be agreed to. The deal management drew up as a concept still had to be approved by ownership and, for whatever reason, they went silent on Howard, according to Haynes.

“Lakers management informed Howard’s agent that they had to consult with team ownership and seek approval before making an official offer, sources said. Howard waited for nearly an hour without hearing back, sources said. Communication was strictly between the Lakers front office and Howard’s agent, sources said.”

Howard eventually read the writing on the wall and signed with the 76ers. And, not too long after, the Lakers signed Montrezl Harrell to a two year, $19 million deal to replace him.

So the Dwight Howard era in Los Angeles is over — again. With just as much chaos and miscommunication as last time.

Yup, sounds about right.