Dwight Howard Reportedly to Sign with Hawks: Latest Contract Details, Reaction
Three years after Dwight Howard signed with the Houston Rockets, the enigmatic center has reportedly agreed to terms on a three-year, $70.5 million deal to join the Atlanta Hawks.
Shams Charania of The Vertical first reported the deal, and Chris Broussard of ESPN confirmed the contract.
Howard declined his $23.2 million player option with the Rockets on June 21, and at that point it was clear the 30-year-old was interested in leaving Houston and pursuing a fresh start.
Of course, that didn't come as a big surprise given the way his final season with the Rockets played out.
After Houston fired head coach Kevin McHale just 11 games into the 2015-16 campaign, the Rockets were plagued by chemistry woes that reportedly stemmed from Howard's inability to jibe with fellow superstar James Harden, according to ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins.
Howard was also evidently frustrated by a reduced role in Houston's offense.
Coming off a 2014-15 season in which he averaged 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds that culminated in a Rockets run to the Western Conference Finals, the big man's numbers slipped as Houston moved its offense away from the post.
In 32.1 minutes a night, Howard averaged 13.7 points per game—the lowest mark since his rookie season in 2004-05—11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting a career-high 62 percent from the field. However, Howard mustered just 8.5 field-goal attempts per game—0.2 higher than his rookie average.
"I'm always interested in winning," Howard said on TNT's Inside the NBA in May (via the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen). "As a big, sometimes you want to feel a part of what's going on. I have to rely on my teammates ... to get the ball. There's been times I've been upset, and I've taken myself out of games and situations. That's on me. I have to go and be a better player at that."
And even though Howard underwhelmed statistically, he was still one of only five players—along with Hassan Whiteside, Andre Drummond, Pau Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins—to average at least 13 points, 11 boards and a block last season.
"He still can be a dominant force, primarily on the defensive end," NBA veteran Jason Terry said, per ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon. "He's such a presence back there, patrolling the paint. ... Offensively, when he sets screens and rolls hard to the basket and runs the floor, he's one of the best we have."
All of that remains true, but there's no denying Howard's explosiveness has waned since he underwent a back procedure in April 2012. He's also dealt with some not-so-minor knee injuries, including a torn MCL and meniscus, over the past two years.
The question moving forward is how the Hawks will deploy Superman. While he evidently craves touches after being deprived of a starring role next to Harden, Howard doesn't have the pure scoring capabilities necessary to be a primary playmaker.
The good news is Atlanta can still design plenty of plays to get Howard involved within the flow of the offense.
Instead of carving out time and space for Howard to work on the low blocks in post-up situations that will grind things to a halt, head coach Mike Budenholzer can design pick-and-rolls galore to find Howard rolling to the rim with Dennis Schroder as the main distributor.
And if recent history is any indication, using Howard as a roll man instead of a traditional back-to-the-basket scorer is the team's best bet at maximizing his limited offensive arsenal.
According to Synergy Sports' play-type data provided to NBA.com, Howard scored at least one point on 56 percent of his possessions as a roll man last season. All told, he generated 1.10 points per possession on such plays, which ranked in the 71st percentile overall.
Conversely, Howard managed just 0.82 points per possession on post-ups, per Synergy. That figure placed him in the 45th percentile.
"If he gave up the post-up thing, he would be an unbelievable, dominant presence in the middle," a team official who previously worked with Howard told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck. "He's a great rim protector, screener, rim-runner. He's probably the best in the league at that. He'd be getting a four-year max right now."
| 2010-11 (Orlando) | 78 | 22.9 | 14.1 | 2.4 | 59.3 | 26.1 |
| 2011-12 (Orlando) | 54 | 20.6 | 14.5 | 2.1 | 57.3 | 24.2 |
| 2012-13 (L.A.) | 76 | 17.1 | 12.4 | 2.4 | 57.8 | 19.4 |
| 2013-14 (Houston) | 71 | 18.3 | 12.2 | 1.8 | 59.1 | 21.3 |
| 2014-15 (Houston) | 41 | 15.8 | 10.5 | 1.3 | 59.3 | 19.2 |
| 2015-16 (Houston) | 71 | 13.7 | 11.8 | 1.6 | 62.0 | 18.9 |
It's a big if, but if the Hawks can carve out more touches for Howard as a rim-runner in the pick-and-roll without sacrificing offensive fluidity, they could cook up a recipe for success.
However, if the team can't regularly find Howard on the move and defers to dumping it into the post time and again, the offense could be enveloped by a my-turn, your-turn vibe.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
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