The Atlanta Hawks have a dominant post presence in Dwight Howard that offers a new dynamic to the offense. The key? Use him.
When Dwight Howard entered the league in 2004, he had the measurements to become a potential star in the NBA. As we’ve learned so very often with the draft, just because players have the height and length by no means can accurately predict their success in the league.
Howard silenced the critics immediately, earning NBA All-Rookie First Team honors by averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Orlando Magic. Fast forward just two seasons later, and Howard had established himself as the best center the NBA had to offer.
From there, Howard has continued to dominate. The 12-year veteran hasn’t had a season where he averaged no less than a double-double. That in itself is historic. Howard was also considered the best defensive presence in the league for a few years. He led the NBA in blocks in 2009 (2.9 per)and 2010 (2.8 per).
Relationships in Orlando became sour an Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where he was expected to form a juggernaut with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. Nash struggled with injuries an was limited to 50 games in 2012-13. Howard was coming off surgery from the previous April, but still managed to average 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in an offense that obviously revolved around Bryant.
Howard’s stay in Hollywood was short-lived, and in the summer of 2013, he decided to sign with Houston. At first, the combination of he and James Harden seemed like it would be perfect, but like Bryant, Harden is a ball-dominant guard. Furthermore, Harden doesn’t have the experience that Bryant does in playing with posting bigs.
The Rockets made the playoffs all of the three seasons Howard was there. They advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2014-15, but were defeated by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. Throughout those three seasons, there was no shortage of drama. There had been rumors that Howard and Harden grew to hate each other and wanted the franchise to make a decision between the two. Obviously Harden is considered as one of the top players in the league, so that battle was pretty much won.
The drama off the court transitioned to on the court play. Harden would often look for his own opportunities instead of making it a point of getting Howard involved. Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated recently wrote:
"“Last season, Howard posted his lowest usage rate since his rookie season and averaged 8.5 field goal attempts per game for one of the faster-paced teams in the league.”"
It was time for Howard to have a change of scenery. But by this time, he is viewed as a nuisance more than he is a value. His stops at Houston and Los Angeles helped form the reputation that he currently has, but it’s important to remember that both franchises were filled with chaos and turnover.
Howard has already took strides in rebuilding his reputation. He started out with turning down the $23.2 million player option on his contract with Houston to become an unrestricted free agent. Although he was bound to get paid around that number by another team, it’s pleasing to see that he realized how bad of a situation Houston was for him.
He chose to sign with the Atlanta Hawks. In all honesty, it was the best decision for him at this point in his career. First and foremost, he comes to a well-run organization that has structure and a well-thought out plan. The front office and Mike Budenholzer run a discipline team and have established a culture as jus that.
Coming to Atlanta also means he returns to play for his hometown, following suit with LeBron James when he returned to Cleveland and as we saw with Dwyane Wade signing with Chicago. It gives Howard that motivation to do all he can to bring a championship to his hometown.
How Budenholzer will utilize him within the offense remains to be seen. The Hawks are used to running a free-flowing, motion offense that implements all five players playing outside of the paint. Howard will likely be expected to run dribble hand-offs at the high-post, an action that he has done before, but not as often as he will next season.
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Budenholzer is known for being a great coach. Not because he implements a certain offensive scheme and forces all of his players to abide, but he understands how to bend that scheme to match his player’s strengths. Howard’s strengths offensively come from posting up on the block and rolling after setting ball-screens. Budenholzer should be sure to utilize both of those actions.
The key is, Howard needs to be involved. Big men in general have to feel involved offensively in order to get the maximum amount of production out of them. That could be the main reason why his numbers fell at Houston. On top of their horrible defensive schemed that funneled the ball-handler to him almost every possession, he also wasn’t getting the touches inside to reward him for his efforts defensively.
His past shows that the more involved he is, the more dominant he will be. Budenholzer is too smart of a coach to overlook that. This isn’t suggesting that the Hawks slow down their offensive pace completely just to give Howard a touch inside, but within the flow, he should be able to establish a mismatch with all of the movement that’s involved.
Between Howard and Paul Millsap, the Hawks will have no problem giving teams nightmares in the frontcourt.
Next: Will Howard and Millsap Mesh?
Keep them involved, and the Hawks could be an extremely dangerous team in the Eastern Conference.