Former eight-time All-Star wants to join Western Conference playoff team

While the three-time Defensive Player of the Year told Haynes of his desire to join 25-year-old De'Aaron Fox and company, he also said that he feels the team is "pretty much set."

Coming off of their first postseason appearance in 17 years, the Sacramento Kings pushed the defending-champion Golden State Warriors to seven games, before falling in their first-round playoff series. Aside from Fox (a first-time All-Star this season), head coach Mike Brown has a youthful, talented core that includes 26-year-old three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis and 22-year-old first-team All-Rookie Keegan Murray.

Howard last appeared in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season, averaging career lows in points (6.2), rebounds (5.9), blocks (0.6) and minutes per game (16.2) across 60 regular season contests (27 starts).

The eight-time All-Star signed with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in November 2022 and averaged 23.2 points and 16.2 rebounds last season, though the team went 6-24.

Howard's spent much of the NBA playoffs posting on social media, sending invites to eliminated NBA stars to join him in Taiwan. Among them have been former teammate LeBron James, Deandre Ayton, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers.