Dwight Howard Traded to Hornets for Miles Plumlee, Pick and More

The Charlotte Hornets have added a big piece to the lineup with the acquisition of Dwight Howard in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks, the Hornets announced on Tuesday.

The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears first reported the deal.

The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Hornets will send Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and the 41st pick in Thursday's draft to the Hawks in exchange for Howard and pick No. 31.

Shortly before the news broke, Howard tweeted the following:

Howard signed a three-year deal with the Hawks worth $70.5 million last summer, but he is already on his way out to play for his fifth team in the last seven seasons.

The 31-year-old averaged 13.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game on 63.3 percent shooting from the field during his lone season in Atlanta.

Even if he is no longer the dominant low-post scorer he once was, it's clear the big man still has plenty of value on the defensive end of the court.

The 2004 No. 1 overall pick spent his first eight seasons with the Orlando Magic, quickly becoming one of the best frontcourt players in the NBA while earning three Defensive Player of the Year awards. After an up-and-down year with the Los Angeles Lakers, he spent the next three seasons with the Houston Rockets.

In 13 seasons, he's been named an All-Star eight times and been selected first-team All-NBA five times. He has also led the league in rebounding five different times.

His continued success on the boards has become part of his team-first attitude.

"I'm just trying my best to get as many as I can for my teammates," Howard said in January, per KL Chouinard of NBA.com. "The more rebounds I get, the more opportunities we have to score. So I'm doing everything I can to help this team win."

The center will now bring down those rebounds for the Hornets, who have bolstered their platoon at center by bringing Howard into the fold without parting ways with key assets.

For now, Howard and Cody Zeller should comprise an imposing one-two punch at the 5 as the Hornets eye a return to the postseason.