Firstly, I’ve always be interested in why Howard is hated and what I found is he isn’t a bad locker room guy in the usual sense, actually similar to Kyrie he’s a weird guy but not a bad guy, the biggest issue I’ve read is that he simply didn’t listen to coaches and doesn’t understand his limitations as a depleted superstar.
Secondly, this situation would be very different than the past as he’s essentially at rock bottom and would be a 1 year vet minimum with no leverage, if he doesn’t listen, he is gone...it’s that simple.
The risk is outweighed by the reward and his skills are exactly what we need. Think of the boneheads that the Warriors have had, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, DeMarcus Cousins ect. and they all did a job because they agreed to do a small role and were on 1 year low cost contracts.