Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel says center Dwight Howard is excited about his opportunity with the club next season.

The Lakers signed Howard to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal after losing DeMarcus Cousins to an ACL tear. Vogel, who is entering his first season as the head coach of the Purple and Gold, believes Howard is ready to play any role he's given:

“I think he’s excited about this opportunity with the Lakers,” Vogel told NBA.com. “It’s very different from the first time he came through. Then, he was a mega-star coming in with two other mega-stars [Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash]. This time around, he’s had a few teams where they haven’t had great success. And he’s at a different point, age-wise, in his career. So he’s excited just to be part of something, in any way he can help. He knows it’s going to be more of a role player type of role.

“He’s excited about it. And he has the ability to be one of the best at it in the league. He’s going to be concentrating on that. I’ll be defining what we’ll expecting of him, in terms of defending and rebounding and screen-setting and lob-catching and all those things. He’s willing to accept any role that I lay out in front of him. We’ve had a great start to our relationship. He’s in a great place mentally.”

This won't be like 2012-13 when Dwight Howard was a focal point of the Lakers' offense. LA will need Howard to rebound, block shots and finish at the rim when he’s involved in pick-and-roll plays on offense next season.

Last season with the Washington Wizards, Howard played in just nine games. He underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy in November, but is said to be in really good shape right now.

Howard put up 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game with Washington. He will likely be JaVale McGee's backup on the Lakers.