Nearly a year ago, Dwight Howard was wasting away in Washington with the Wizards as his career fell further down the drain. He was playing for his fourth team in four years and started the season off with a nagging gluteal injury he got from simply sitting on a team plane. Basically, he was the definition of washed.

Fast forward to today, Howard looks like he might be one of the league’s best offseason pickups. The Lakers’ backup center is 19 of 24 from the field in six games with a .792 field goal percentage that would shatter Wilt Chamberlain’s record of .727.

Howard has been a game changer in Los Angeles. The Lakers are a much better team with him on the court.

He’s running, dunking, rebounding and playing defense like it’s 2008 all over again. This rejuvenated version of Howard confirms exactly what we all knew already: If he just simplified his role and did the little things that his teams needed him to do, he could still be a pretty good big man in today’s NBA

We’re a bit far removed from his prime, as he’s not quite as athletic as he used to be. But he’s still very good at doing the dirty work. This is the Dwight Howard that every team he’s played for over the last six seasons were hoping they were getting.

So what’s changed?

Part of it is that he’s playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Howard, Davis and James have a 44.4 net rating as a three man unit, per NBA.com’s stats tool. That should be expected when playing with two of the league’s 10 or so best players. They’ll make anyone better.

The biggest factor, though, is that Howard has everything to lose. This is his last shot. He was almost out of the league after being waived by the Grizzlies this summer. His saving grace in Los Angeles was DeMarcus Cousins tearing his ACL after unfortunately bumping knees with another player in a scrimmage. Without that, Howard might not be on a roster today.

He still has to prove himself. He’s on a one year, non-guaranteed deal and can be dropped at any moment. This is absolutely what rock bottom looks like for a former four-time Defensive Player of the Year. He can’t afford to mess this up. If he does, that might be it.

Is it sustainable?

His shooting probably won’t last — Wilt’s record is a record for a reason. Shooting 80 percent from the field for a season is insanely difficult.

According to Howard’s shot chart, 23 of his 24 shots have come right at the rim and the other was a hook shot eight feet away from the basket. He’s off to a hot start, but he’s bound to miss a few bunnies here and there that normally drop. It happens to the best of us.

What should last for Howard is his defense and rebounding. He’s averaging 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes, which is just a notch above his career per-36-pace of 13.2. Defending is also something that should come naturally to Howard. He has the skill — it’s all about the effort. And he can’t afford to wing it on a non-guaranteed deal.

Keeping this pace up all season long isn’t going to be easy but, given his position, Howard kind of has to.