1-6 Wizards Need Help in the Worst Way; Is Dwight Howard the Answer?
It didn't take long for the jokes to fly this summer when Dwight Howard signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards.
They seemed like the opposite of a perfect match: a would-be Eastern Conference contender seemingly always plagued by chemistry concerns bringing in a three-time Defensive Player of the Year who has left his last five teams on bad terms. It was only a matter of time before the experiment ended badly.
But the Wizards haven't needed Howard's help to implode. As he stayed home on their recent five-game road trip to rehab a buttocks injury suffered in training camp, Washington has gotten off to a disastrous start. Now, the team is turning to Howard to put on the Superman cape he was once so fond of wearing and help get the season back on track.
With Howard expected to make his Wizards debut Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, now is the time for a free-falling team and a player at a crossroads to find out if each can be the fix the other needs. Howard will have to find a way to mesh his goofy personality with the seriousness of the Wizards' current predicament.
"Dwight is Dwight," John Wall told Bleacher Report in October. "He's a guy who likes to joke and laugh around. It's just a matter of, you have to figure out how to balance that. We haven't dealt with that. Hopefully, we don't have to deal with that too much and it doesn't become a problem for us."
The Wizards have started the season 1-6, losing their last four in a row on the road following an Oct. 22 overtime win in Portland. After an embarrassing 136-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 28, Wall and Bradley Beal called out unnamed teammates for complaining about touches, and Austin Rivers called the team's defense "horrendous."
If there's ever a team that needs a jolt, it's these Wizards. And if there's ever a player who needs to change the conversation around him, it's Howard, who has an opportunity to help turn around a season in danger of unraveling.
For both sides, this partnership has to work.
This Wizards team has plenty of talent—beyond Wall and Beal, there are versatile young wings Otto Porter Jr. and Kelly Oubre and big man Markieff Morris, who hit six three-pointers against the Blazers in their only victory of the season.
On paper, they should be much better. And with no shortage of hefty contracts on the books, their best chance at a fresh look would be the return of Howard. It's not an enviable place to be, for him or them, and things could get even worse if it doesn't work.
Once the most dominant big man of his generation, Howard has never been able to reclaim that status since forcing a trade from the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2012. He's also struggled to find a permanent home in the latter half of his career. After spending one disappointing, drama-filled season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012-13, he hit free agency and teamed up with James Harden in Houston.
That star pairing didn't live up to expectations, either, and Howard left the Rockets in the summer of 2016 to sign a three-year deal with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. One season in, the Hawks traded him to the Charlotte Hornets, who likewise dealt him after one year to the Brooklyn Nets. Following a buyout with Brooklyn in July, Howard signed a two-year contract with the Wizards, who become the sixth team of his career and fourth in as many years.
Howard's fall from superstar to journeyman does not have an easy source of blame.
Some of it is health- and age-related. Howard has dealt with back and shoulder problems for years, and the decision by the Lakers to rush him back for opening night in 2012 contributed to his deteriorating play.
He's sat out the first seven games of the Wizards' season with a gluteal muscle injury. Just a month shy of his 33rd birthday, he's no longer the explosive athlete he was during his peak years in Orlando, when he dazzled the league with dunks on 12-foot rims.
The changing nature of the NBA game has been a factor in Howard's decline as well. To be truly impactful, the modern big man must be able to shoot, space the floor and make plays—from Anthony Davis to Joel Embiid to Nikola Jokic, this is the new paradigm for frontcourt stars.
At his best, Howard is effective as a rim protector and pick-and-roll scorer, but he's never been able to expand his game to adapt to the modern league. It's made him into an anachronism, and one with plenty of miles and injuries to boot.
Howard's mentality and maturity have also been the subject of widespread criticism throughout his career. In Orlando, his bizarre, unexpected decision to opt in to the final year of his contract after spending months requesting a trade to Brooklyn gave him a wishy-washy tag he has never been able to shake.
For years, he's made noise about wanting more post touches despite it not being his strong suit. He famously clashed with Kobe Bryant during their season together with the Lakers, and former teammates are as quick to bring up his farting ability as they are to praise his on-court impact.
Even in recent years, Howard's numbers have been solid. In Charlotte last season, he averaged 16.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He's also posted a PER above 20 in each of the past two seasons.
So why have his past three teams all seemingly been eager to get rid of a player who, unpopular though he may be, is a no-brainer future Hall of Famer who still has some productive years left?
"There's always going to be outside noise about any type of player," Beal told B/R. "They said the same thing about Markieff when he came out here. They said he was an asshole, a bad teammate, a bad locker-room guy. But he's the complete opposite of that.
"I think it's just a matter of the situation you're in. I'm never going to talk bad about a guy or have any ill thought about him until I've had an experience with him. People say [Howard] is a bad locker-room guy? I want to see it for myself. I'm not going to judge it until I witness it."
Thus far, returns on Howard from that end have been positive.
"He's been great," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "There's a lot of speculation, but a lot of things are said about you and me. Is it true? You have to experience it for yourself. My experience with him has been, he's coachable. I've got a good relationship with him. He's funny. He definitely fits in well with us.
"We haven't had a lot of practice time together—we haven't had a game together—so that's obviously the next step of our relationship together and his teammates. But he's been terrific. If he stays this way, I couldn't think of a better player to fit in with our group."
Wizards players know who Howard is, as a player and personality. They know that his approach and sense of humor have the potential to either bring a reeling team together or expedite what has already been a swift fall. History is not on their side, but the opportunity for a fresh start remains.
"He's going to give us a lot of versatility," Wall said. "A guy who can rebound the ball, catch lobs, block shots, be a presence. We haven't had that yet."
Both the Wizards and Howard need this team-up to work. There's no telling whether it will, but neither side has anything to lose by finding out.
