Wizards re-sign free agent Howard to one-year deal

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.