New York Knicks: 6 Reasons Dwight Howard Could Bring a Dynasty to the Big Apple

While the Knicks are finally starting to see the benefit of the Carmelo Anthony trade, it is very clear that the Knicks lack an inside presence on the defensive end of the floor.

Although Amar'e Stoudemire has been very effective offensively, landing himself as the number five scorer in the NBA averaging 25.42 PPG, his defense has been mediocre at best.

This is why the Knicks must do whatever they can to obtain Dwight Howard when he hits the market as a free agent in 2012. They would likely have to trade something to get him, as the Magic will likely attempt to get something back for Howard, much in the way the Nuggets and Jazz did with their respective superstars.

While it is unlikely that the Knicks will be able to offer Amar'e Stoudemire straight up for Dwight Howard, due to Stoudemire's notorious injury history, the Knicks would be prudent to add another player and draft pick to the deal to acquire the coveted big man they will need to become the championship caliber team New York has been craving for the past decade.  

Obtaining Dwight Howard would give the Knicks a big man in the middle who can be effective offensively, while also fortifying the Knicks defensively and no longer leaving them branded as a liability on that side of the floor.

Pairing Howard with Carmelo Anthony would give the Knicks one of the most proficient inside-outside combinations in the NBA—and could be the first major step towards the Knicks building a dynasty in New York.

He Is Younger and Healthier Than Amar'e Stoudemire

Stoudemire's dedication to staying physically fit has kept him playing at an elite level in New York. The question the Knicks brass must ask themselves is how much longer can he keep it up?

Signing with the New York Knicks in 2010, Stoudemire instantly embraced the city of New York and has become a beloved player. As previously mentioned, he remains one of the top scorers in the NBA and at times has been absolutely unstoppable on the offensive end.

Obtaining Stoudemire in 2010 was what the city needed. The Knicks could not watch the free agent pool evaporate without getting their hands on one of the coveted free agents.

The unfortunate reality for the Knicks is that their 5-year $100 million investment has a lot of miles on his 28-year-old body. At such a young age he already has had two micro-fracture knee surgeries and an eye retina surgery performed on him. The Knicks must ask themselves how long they think he will be able to continue his high level of productivity. 

While he will be ready for the playoffs this year and will likely play exceptionally well, the Knicks would be taking a major chance to see if he can play at an elite level like this until his contract is up in 2015.

The Knicks have a history of big men with banged up bodies such as Patrick Ewing, Marcus Camby, Willis Reed, etc. and must learn from the franchise's past experiences with the aforementioned big men. 

Although trading away a fan favorite like STAT will be hard to swallow at first, it is what the team needs. Since Howard is healthier and younger than Stoudemire, the Knicks would be able to rely on him without having to worry that injuries would slow him down.

Just to drive home the point that Howard is in fact healthier than Amar'e, we need look no further than the number of games missed by each player respectively. Stoudemire has played a total of three full 82 game seasons out of a possible nine for his career, while Howard has played five full seasons out of a possible seven!

It is also important to note that the two seasons he did not play in all 82 games was in the 2008-2009 season and this current 2010-2011 season. In 2008-2009 he missed a total of only three games, while the games he has missed so far this year were due to technical foul suspensions—and were completely unrelated to health issues.

Essentially what the above statistics support is that if the Knicks did in fact acquire Dwight Howard they would be getting a player of Ewing's talents, who still has the potential to get even better, while not having the knee problems that Patrick Ewing had—and Amar'e Stoudemire currently faces now. 

He Would Be the Best Defensive Center to Play for the Knicks Since Patrick Ewing

Dwight Howard could become an anchor in the middle for New York, similar to the way Patrick Ewing was.

Between 1999-2000, when Patrick Ewing played his last season for the Knicks and the summer of 2010, when the Knicks inked Amar'e Stoudemire to a lucrative deal, the franchise was plagued with a plethora of injured, mediocre and overweight big men that bring back horrific memories just at the mention of their names.

The important thing to focus on is during the miserable decade between Ewing and the arrival of Stoudemire, the Knicks had several big men who at first glance you would think would've locked down the lane for them defensively. From the 2000-2010 they are as follows: Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Dikembe Mutombo, Antonio Davis and Nene Hilario (Oh that's right they traded him on draft night for Antonio McDyess, a big man who was past his prime with creaky knees. My mistake.)

What happened over the last decade of disaster, was that any good defending big man the Knicks had on the team was either crippled by injuries or their teammate's mistakes on defense eradicated anything positive that they contributed on that side of the floor.

While the Knicks best defender is currently Ronny Turiaf, he is better served as an energy player off the bench and is too undersized to be relied upon to defend the NBA's elite big men. With Howard as the starting Center, Turiaf would be able rest more and preserve his body, preventing him from getting injured.

In the past two seasons Howard has seized the Defensive Player of the Year Trophy, and looks to be on pace to win his third consecutive award this season averaging nearly 2.4 BPG, 1.3 SPG along with 10.1 Defensive RPG as well. After all the defensive uncertainty that has faced New York since Ewing's retirement, Howard would give the team and its fans someone they deserve and can rely upon.

If the Knicks were to acquire him, he would usher in an Era of basketball that would bring back the nostalgic memories of the tough trio of Ewing, Oakley and Mason that the Knicks need in order to win an NBA Championship.  

His Offense Is Underrated and Has Improved Tremendously

The work Dwight Howard (above left) has put in with Hakeem Olajuwon (above right) this summer has paid off marvelously.

While giving Hakeem Olajuwon all the credit for Howard's recent spike in offensive efficiency would be unfair, "The Dream" definitely deserves a fair amount of it. (With Stan Van Gundy and Patrick Ewing likely being responsible for the rest of it.)

This season Howard is averaging a career-high 23.1 PPG, which is five points above what he was averaging last season. The most likely reason for this is that he now has added more to his offensive repertoire, than just resorting to trying to dunk over everyone that crosses his path.

After working with Olajuwon this summer, Howard has improved his positioning, along with his footwork to find other ways to score that make him much more difficult for his opponents to defend.

The improvements he has made this year have allowed him to get more touches down low as well. Comparing the numbers to last year, he has almost 200 more field goal attempts than he did last season and has converted on 100 more of them than he did last season as well.

With Howard's monumental strength and supreme athleticism, scoring anything less than 20 PPG is truly unacceptable; being mentored by Olajuwon this summer likely gave him the push in the right direction that he needed in order to diversify his offensive game in the post.

However, Howard still has to improve significantly from the foul line, shooting a paltry 59.2% getting to the line 11.8 times per game and only converting 7 of those attempts. If he was able to get FT% up to even 70% a game, he would make it tougher for the other team at the end of games, since fouling him would not necessarily result in missed shots.

The thing that is scary to think is that with Howard's sublime combination of strength, athleticism and length he has only begun to scratch the surface on reaching his full potential on the offensive end of the floor.

Outside of Kevin Love, He Is the Best Rebounder in the NBA

Dwight Howard tearing a rebound away from his opponent.

When titling this slide, I couldn't possibly name Howard the best rebounder in the NBA. What Kevin Love has accomplished in Minnesota has been an absolute spectacle to watch. The thing that obviously separates Howard from Love, is that Howard is an absolute monster on defense, while Love's only real contribution on that end—at least for now—is his phenomenal rebounding prowess.

The important thing to note about the previously mentioned rant, is that Howard is not far behind Love in this category. Howard is gifted with a stronger upper body and much greater athleticism that make it more likely for him to dominate the rebounding category for years to come. However, it will be a lot of fun to watch the two of them battle it out throughout their careers to see who ends up with the crown as best rebounder between the two of them.

Between the work Howard has done this past summer with Olajuwon, coupled with the work he is continually putting in with Ewing, he is sure to learn better positioning and footing which will help him utilize his strength to the fullest potential to become the best rebounder he can be.

As crazy as it may sound, Howard's athleticism and brute strength may allow him to improve his rebounding, as well as many other facets of his game since he is still only 26 years old and is currently still in his prime.

A Pairing of Howard and 'Melo Would Be Reminiscent of Kobe and Shaq

The pair would form an offensive threat that would be a nightmare for the opposition to defend.

Ever wonder what Shaquille O'Neal would look like if he was in peak physical condition? Or even what Kobe Bryant would look like three inches taller? Take a look at the above picture and you've got your answer. Just looking at that picture should give you chills.

While it sounds blasphemous to compare Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard to one of the greatest duos in NBA History, it may not be as wild of a comparison as you might think. At only 27 and 26 years old respectively, the two of them are both in their primes and have very similar games to the legendary Lakers mentioned above.

The similarities between the two aforementioned pairs are uncanny, Melo and Kobe both have the killer instinct to close out games. Anthony is still working on improving his three-point shot and will have plenty of opportunity to do so under Mike D'Antoni's "three for all" up-tempo offensive style of play. The area that does separate Melo and Kobe however, is Kobe's defensive play. While Melo may never be an elite defender like Kobe, he has been able to defend his opponent well in the final minutes of games when it truly counts, which is an improvement from the way he played defense in Denver.

The biggest number that jumps out when comparing Howard and Shaq is their field goal attempts. While Howard is shooting the most attempts of his career at 13.5 a game, that number pales in comparison to the 18.4 field goal attempts Shaq averaged playing with Kobe and the Lakers over 8 years. The point is this, Howard has never played with an elite scorer like Carmelo Anthony, which would spread the floor more for him and give him more opportunities on the offensive end as opposed to what he is receiving now in Orlando.

Since Howard is in much better physical condition than Shaq was—and does not miss the amount of games Shaq missed due to injury, it actually stands to reason that Howard may be even more productive than Shaq was for a longer period of time, when paired with an elite scorer like Carmelo Anthony.

What separates the two previously mentioned duos is a) the Championship rings and b) the fact that Howard and Melo actually like each other. Kobe and Shaq's dislike for each other ruined what could have been a historical run. Considering all the aforementioned information, there is reason to believe that if Howard and Melo are paired together, the two of them could be just as successful, if not more, than Kobe and Shaq.

The bottom line here is whatever the Knicks have to do to get this duo put together they must do it. We could be looking at a more fit version of Shaquille O'Neal and a taller version of Kobe Bryant down the road if these two are paired together.

His Personality on and off the Court Would Fit Perfectly in New York

He has matured enough to know when it's okay to joke around and when it's time to get serious and unleash the beast.

The biggest difference in Howard's demeanor this season, is how he has matured as a player. Seeing Howard on the court last season, he was all smiles and joking around a lot. Even though he was still dominant, he was not as dominant as he could have been.

Fast forwarding to this year, it is clear to see that Howard's mentality has changed for the better. He has not lost his well-loved sense of humor, but rather compartmentalized it, when he needs to.

Off-the-court Howard is one of the funniest players in the NBA (another similarity he shares with Shaquille O'Neal); while on it, he has learned to unleash the beast that everyone knew he was capable of being.

When the lights go on, his jolly grin turns into a stoic look that let's those around him know, he is now ready to take care of business and is not playing around.

As evidenced by his success on the offensive end of the floor, the change in mood has worked for him. The growth he has shown as a person will not only benefit him, but the team which he plays for as well.

Dwight Howard would embrace the city of New York much the same way Amar'e Stoudemire has. While it would be unfortunate to see Amar'e Stoudemire go, it would prove to be a prudent business move that would pay huge dividends for the present and future.

The leap of maturity Howard has taken this past season to know when to goof around and when to become the "Beast of the East" proves that he would thrive under the bright lights of New York. The Knicks front office must realize that putting Melo and Howard together is the chance of a lifetime that could make New York the top team in the league for years to come.