It is almost over. There are only two weeks left to run, just eight more games, on the contract that got him booed in Washington, traded to and from Dallas in the span of a year and ultimately banished to a team in Denver that is basing much of its rebuilding plan on the expiration of that infamous contract.

Juwan Howard, coughing and wheezing as he drives to work, isn't ticking off the last seconds idly.

Nope. Typically, he's clocking in. On this night specifically, a flu-ridden Howard is insisting that he logs his usual 36 minutes, and not simply because former boss Michael Jordan and the Wiz are at Pepsi Center.

	GMs have noticed that Juwan Howard is still working hard.

The NBA's $105 million man, miffed that the flu had already forced him to miss Saturday night's game in Houston, is intent on earning every last penny on a contract that has netted Howard riches and scorn. He could have sat out again Sunday, and a case could be made that the Nuggets wouldn't have even minded, since every loss increases their odds of winning the draft lottery in May. Except that this is Howard, so you knew he'd force his way onto the floor.

"I think the people here appreciate what I bring to the table," Howard said. "They know I practice every day. I play hard. I don't complain."

The whole league knows it, actually, after what might be Howard's best-ever season, given the circumstances in the Rocky Mountains. Howard really hasn't changed -- he always gave max effort in D.C. and Big D -- but his approach in the face of a hopeless season with the Nuggets has earned him something besides max dollars.

"Juwan has displayed incredible professionalism," said Detroit president Joe Dumars, who was always known for the same. "I think a lot of people have taken notice."

Which is why Howard can expect a lot of phone calls starting July 1, when he hits the free-agent market for the second time. He won't get anything close to his current numbers, but these days only a Tim Duncan or a Jason Kidd commands such salaries. Depending on how big a pay cut Howard is willing to accept -- if he'll go down, say, to the $5 million range -- he figures to be one of the summer's most coveted free agents. The mid-level exception available to every team over the salary cap is expected to be about $5 million and Howard looms as one of the most signable power forwards out there.

San Antonio's Duncan, Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal and even Utah's Karl Malone are expected to stay with their current teams. The Clippers' Elton Brand, meanwhile, is a restricted free agent, meaning that no team besides the Clippers can sign him outright. No wonder Howard, just for starters, has already been linked with the Lakers, Orlando and Chicago, where Jalen Rose doesn't deny that he will be lobbying his ex-Michigan teammate to consider a homecoming with the Bulls.

"I've had a lot of guys do that," Howard said.

The Nuggets, mind you, haven't ruled out trying to keep Howard, which wasn't the original plan. General manager Kiki Vandeweghe, then a rookie GM, peddled his four most onerous contracts (Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad) to Dallas in February 2002 largely because he wanted the cap space that would come in July 2003 when Howard's deal expired. By renouncing Howard at the appointed time, Vandeweghe would be able to slice $20.6 million off Denver's payroll.

A renounced player, however, can be re-signed by the team that does the renouncing if that team has salary-cap room to offer, in a change from the old rule that forced teams to wait until 55 days into the regular season to sign someone it renounced. The Nuggets, who expect to have $18 million to $25 million in cap space depending on the league's final calculations for next season's ceiling, could conceivably sign two free agents -- Gilbert Arenas and Corey Maggette, for example -- and still have a decent chunk to offer Howard and beat out his $5 million offers.

And if you've followed the Nuggets at all, you'd know why they're considering it. While the team that dealt him away has amassed the league's best overall record in Dallas, Howard's new team has perpetually stripped down its roster to start over this offseason. Since Howard arrived in Denver, Antonio McDyess and James Posey have been traded away.

Howard could have sulked or feigned injury or hogged the ball in a bid to put up career numbers and boost his summertime value. He chose none of the above, choosing instead to mentor prospects Nene Hilario and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. Howard has also shaken free of his early struggles to produce more since Posey left, even though he gets considerably more attention from defenses than any other Nugget. Twenty-five games into the season, Howard was shooting less than 40 percent from the floor and averaging just 14.4 points. In the 40-odd games since, Howard has averaged 21.2 points.

	“	It's been tough, especially tough mentally, to go out and compete every night and time after time come up short with the loss. But it's been a good test for me to find out, 'Can I be a real leader?' I think I answered that call. ”
		— Juwan Howard

"It's been tough, especially tough mentally, to go out and compete every night and time after time come up short with the loss," Howard said. "But it's been a good test for me to find out, 'Can I be a real leader?' I think I answered that call.

"As a player, you work very hard to improve your game, to put yourself in position to feel wanted. There were times when I was traded, sometimes I kind of questioned my ability, but when I look back on (both trades), I think a lot of it has to do with the contract."

Howard, however, insists that his time with the Bullets-cum-Wizards was much tougher than this long year-plus with the Nuggets. "A lot of fans there felt like everything was my fault, and the game is not played that way," Howard said. "The game is a team game. Every night out, I gave a consistent effort, but that really wasn't appreciated. This situation is nowhere near like Washington."

No it's not. The Nuggets are the envy of every bad team in the league, with all that cap room coming and great odds for a top-three lottery pick and widespread admiration for how hard they always play in spite of their talent limitations. And Howard, as team captain, is getting lots of the plaudits.

It's a nice switch from those Fab Five days and a team that never won as much as it should have. Ditto for those cold years in the nation's capital, where Howard was never pardoned for the hitch in his jumper or his franchise-player wages.

Yet before he pulls into the Pepsi Center garage, to see MJ with the Wiz one last time, Howard is asked if he'll feel a sense of relief, of a burden lifted, when that seven-year, $105 million contract finally does run out.

"Not at all," he said. "People are going to say what they're going to say anyway. They're entitled to their opinions. I respect that. I'll just be looking forward to this summer and what my future holds."

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, send Stein a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.