The San Antonio Spurs announced Saturday via a press release that they have waived forward Josh Howard, just a day after signing him on Friday.
Though this move might be a surprise to some, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News wrote about why this move would happen; the reason being to put Howard in a D-League Austin Toros uniform to allow him to recover from a recent surgical procedure.
As such, it is likely the next step in Howard’s journey might come not in San Antonio, but a few miles up Interstate-35 inAustin.
NBA rules allow a team’s final three cuts of the preseason to be allocated to the Development League club of its choosing. If the Spurs were to waive Howard before Nov. 1, they could place him in Austin – provided he signs a D-League contract – and monitor his progress there.
Another advantage of going this route for the Spurs and Howard could also allow Howard to learn the Spurs' systems on both sides of the floor as the Toros run a very similar system to the team. In the past, current Spurs players like Cory Joseph, Nando De Colo, and Aron Baynes have been sent to Austin to play more minutes than they would in San Antonio and to learn the functions of the team system.
The Toros' schedule is slated to begin on November 22. Before that, they will have a training camp where Howard can begin physical play with the team. Project Spurs' own Quixem Ramirez will be covering the Toros this season for TorosNation.com. Be sure to follow his articles for news on Howard's progress and the Toros in general.
