3. Dwight Howard
Make no mistake, Dwight Howard would be far from a perfect fit with these Chicago Bulls. In fact, I wouldn’t expect him to see the court at all behind Nikola Vucevic. However, if the Bulls were to waive one of Bradley or Simonovic to create a roster spot, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better third-string center out there.
As the Bulls are well aware at this point, injury can strike at any moment. I doubt the Bulls feel comfortable with the prospect of Bradley logging significant minutes in a potential playoff scenario (or being forced to play small ball whenever Vucevic subs out, for that matter), which makes Howard a sensible insurance policy here.
The Chicago Bulls could acquire a veteran insurance policy in Dwight Howard.
Even at 36 years old, Howard proved to be an effective role player for the Lakers last season. He averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 16 minutes of action per game, while his -0.2 box plus/minus was the best mark he’s achieved since 2017 and indicates that he’s still an average role player.
Howard is better than most other veteran options available at center such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Ed Davis, and Paul Millsap, without being the potential locker room risk someone like DeMarcus Cousins would pose. The trickiest part here would be convincing Howard to accept a role where he’d essentially never see the court.
Obviously, the hope here is that the Bulls don’t suffer an injury in the first place and thus wouldn’t need Howard’s services at all. Still, Chicago is loaded up on enough depth to survive an injury at any other position besides center, so securing a third playable center could be a wise investment.