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Atlanta Hawks: End of Season Awards

By Tyler Sellers

May 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of t-shirts on the seats prior to game two of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
May 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of t-shirts on the seats prior to game two of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 26, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) is fouled by Brooklyn Nets forward Trevor Booker (35) in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) is fouled by Brooklyn Nets forward Trevor Booker (35) in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard

This is a title that Howard is not unfamiliar with. He won the league’s award for 3 years in a row while with the Orlando Magic. His ability as a rim protector has declined drastically, but he has been really important to the Hawks on defense. 

He won the league’s award for 3 years in a row while with the Orlando Magic. His ability as a rim protector has declined drastically, but he has been really important to the Hawks on defense. 

Atlanta boasts the 4th-best team defense in the league with a 1.024 team defensive efficiency rating. The statistic is determined by the number of points that the team’s opponents score per 100 possessions.

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Howard was a much more intimidating force before he started to endure back issues and injuries during recent years. He has actually done a terrific job of staying healthy and in shape this year, starting all of the 74 games he appeared in. That is the most games he’s played during one season since 2011.

The number of blocks that he has accumulated has been lower than what many fans could’ve hoped for with 1.2 per game. He averaged nearly 3.0 per game during his prime, with a career high of 2.8.

The number of steals that he tallied does make his activity defensively more impressive, however. He averaged 0.9 per game, in 29.7 minutes which was as many as Schroder. With over two steals and blocks per game, the difference he makes as a defender is still far above average.

The team leader in steals, Thabo Sefolosha, also presents a strong case for this award. He is one of the games top one-on-one perimeter defenders, who averaged 1.5 steals in relatively limited action. That is until Howard’s dominant rebounding is mentioned.

A lot of facets of his game are in decline, meanwhile, he remains elite when controlling the boards. Along with 13.5 points and 1.4 assists, he averaged 12.7 rebounds per game for 4th in the league.

The rate at which he collected defensive rebounds was the second highest of his career at 31.7 percent. During his award winning 2011- 2012 season, he posted 33.1 percent. He averaged 8.7 defensive rebounds this season.

Nov 12, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) dunks the ball past Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 117-96. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) dunks the ball past Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 117-96. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Howard had what can only be described as a fantastic season for this stage of his career. He does hinder his team’s effectiveness offensively somewhat, but on defense, he is still among the top center’s in the NBA.

With the league trending more towards the perimeter and excessive outside shooting, it’s likely that Howard will not get many votes this year.

He is a lot closer to claiming this award than Millsap is to being the MVP though. There are a couple of other centers that are going to be slightly ahead of Howard, such as Rudy Gobert and DeAndre Jordan.

With the outstanding all-around defensive talent that has been on display from the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green, however, don’t be surprised if all those bigs are out of luck.  

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