Ranking the 4 best NBA free agency fits for Dwight Howard
The eternally disinterested Houston Rockets were blown out and eliminated by a Golden State Warriors team that didn’t have the best player in the world on Wednesday night. The game was Houston's entire season in a nutshell: little effort and less ball movement sprinkled atop a disappointing (and kind of hilarious) outcome.
Dwight Howard stood tall in the hurricane’s eye of it all, in what should be his final game in a Rockets jersey. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year can and will opt out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and despite his declining production value and a career’s worth of fart and candy-related baggage, there are reportedly at least four (pretty damn random) small-market teams that want to sign him (via ESPN):
Let’s rank the four teams listed above by Howard’s fit on their roster, and with their expectations and franchise life cycle.
We’ll start with the team that drafted Howard and watched him lead them to the NBA Finals back in 2009. Is there any unsentimental reason why these two parties should have any interest in re-joining forces four years later? After Howard (coincidentally or not) left them, the Los Angeles Lakers and Rockets in eventual rubble by merely being on their teams?
The Magic already have a starting center, albeit one in Nikola Vucevic whose athleticism, intelligence and skill disappears whenever the other team has the ball. Howard is a better five in the modern game than Vucevic, and it wouldn’t be that hard to A) trade Vucevic, or B) bring him off the bench.
But where are the Magic if Howard signs a four-year max contract? They’re in need of filling that other available max contract slot with another high profile free agent (possibly Chandler Parsons) and witnessing immediate and substantial growth from guys like Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja.
Even then, how good is this team? Can they make a run to the Conference Finals before Howard’s body breaks down for good? It’s possible, but unlikely. Which means signing Howard is not worth it.
Heading into next season the Portland Trail Blazers need to improve their defense if they want to reach the next tier of a top-heavy conference. They finished this season 20th in defensive rating, despite limiting three-point attempts and restricting opportunities around the basket. (They held opponents to 56.9 percent shooting in the restricted area, good for third lowest in the league—one spot ahead of the suffocating San Antonio Spurs.)
But no team allowed a higher percentage on above-the-break three pointers, which is strange considering Portland’s conservative schemes allow them to stay grounded and contest outside shots.
Where does Howard come into all of this? Well, maybe he doesn’t. Maybe the Trail Blazers are better off with a play-making center like Mason Plumlee, making defenses pay as a pass-first roller whenever they trap Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum on high ball screens.
But, on the other hand, there are other ways to free those guards up. And, um, Howard is a lot better than Plumlee. He brings an interior toughness the Trail Blazers don’t currently have, and he's by far the most imposing pick-and-roll partner Lillard and McCollum would ever dance with.
Portland would be better with Howard in the fold, if he’s willing to take a backseat, do the dirty work, clean the glass and let the little guys have all the glory. This isn't an easy decision from the organization's perspective.
A couple months ago, the Charlotte Hornets took off when Steve Clifford made Cody Zeller his starting center in a small, versatile lineup that could play just about any style at just about any speed.
Now, imagine what that team looks like with Howard instead of Zeller (a relatively frail five) anchoring the paint. Assuming he’s 100 percent healthy, they’re a lot better! Also assuming they re-sign Nicolas Batum and buy out Spencer Hawes, how do you score on the Hornets next year?
Steve Clifford is their coach, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Batum are their perimeter watch dogs and Howard is their paint protector. At a big cost, the Hornets will get marginally better. And in a wide open Eastern Conference, that might be worthwhile.
What’s so funny/sad about the state of Howard’s career is he may no longer be a great fit on teams that already have momentum. A few years ago, when he left the Lakers and signed with Houston, Howard was heavily recruited by several teams that believed he was the missing exclamation point to lift them over the top and into the Finals.
Now, it’s probably best for everyone involved if there aren’t such high expectations. And there we have the Bucks, an exciting science lab of a basketball team that features a seven-foot point guard, a spastic recent second overall draft pick, impressive two-way talent on the wing and a fanbase that has no choice but to be patient.
Add Howard to the mix (assuming Greg Monroe is traded), and the Bucks are a couple three-point shooters away from becoming as devastating as they are appealing. If things go right, Howard wouldn’t even be the third option by the time he nuzzled into his contract.
He’d instead be the perfect supplement to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton’s treehouse of horror, rebounding everything in sight, snuffing out pick-and-rolls, protecting the rim and giving the Bucks a diving roll man to create some space in half-court situations.
Howard wouldn’t have any pressure and neither would the Bucks. Sure, it’d be nice if they made the playoffs and even won a series in his first year, but nobody will talk about a championship until it’s clear that the younger pieces are on a trajectory to carry them there.
The best center of his generation would close out his career as a role player in NBA Siberia. It’d humble him, and a focused, determined Howard is still the last thing any opposing frontcourt wants to go up against. The Bucks may be his best choice.
Gus Johnson says Dwight Howard says he wanted to go to Milwaukee at the trade deadline. https://t.co/ELEYYGk29J pic.twitter.com/cZKxUClkY3
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) March 1, 2016
