Was Trading Dwight Howard Actually A Smart Move In Hindsight?

Dwight Howard used to be with the Orlando Magic. More than that, the playful big guy was their best player, the franchise cornerstone who lead the team all the way to the NBA Finals. They couldn’t get over the final hurdle in 2009, but when he left it was a hammer blow to the organization that it is still recovering from.

It’s been a few years since he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and so that raw feeling from the breakup is gone at this point. Looking back on the whole episode with no emotion now attached, was it actually one of the best moves this franchise ever made?

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Not for one second am I suggesting getting rid of a player like Dwight Howard is a good idea for any team to do. But he was going to walk away from the team in free agency anyway, and so it made sense to get as much back as possible for the guy while the team could.

Andrew Bynum and Andre Iguodala both changed teams in the blockbuster trade, the other two best players in the trade. Neither landed with Orlando though, and at the time that was a sore point for fans. How could this team lose it’s best player, and not get either of the other two guys back in exchange?

With the benefit of hindsight (kind of what this whole piece is based around, really) we now know that dodging Bynum was a huge blessing in disguise. He’s out of the league now, and unlikely to return. Iguodala would have been nice, at the time he was an elite defender and great wing player. He still is those things, albeit in smaller doses.

But adding him to that Magic team would have made them a playoff team sooner no question, but one whose ceiling as a team was limited.

Instead they got a young guy by the name of Nikola Vucevic, who could now be considered an All-Star snub and who is locked up for the long term. In addition to this, Tobias Harris was snagged from the Milwaukee Bucks and the team drafted well.

Oct 22, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard looks on during a timeout against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

While there has been plenty of losing in the short term, the potential of this young core is truly great, and it all came as a result of trading Howard at the right time, and getting back in return long term pieces. Not somebody like Iguodala who likely would have tried to get out of Orlando and the rebuild job taking place there as soon as possible.

As for Howard, well the comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal were there from day one, and he gave this team some memorable moments. So what I’m about to say isn’t meant in any bitter way at all, I’m over the fact he left this team in a bad situation and am excited about how the roster is shaping up for the next seven plus years.

But maybe Howard peaked in Orlando? He wasn’t happy in his next stop, Los Angeles with the Lakers, and although he played quite well, which some people forget, he wasn’t quite the same. He’s in a better spot now in Houston, but I don’t think he ever got any better and took his game to the next level.

I’d even go so far as to say that for the last numbers of years he couldn’t be classed as the guy on a championship team. He plays second fiddle to James Harden with the Rockets these days, and it’s a situation that suits him perfectly.

He’s always been a joker, and it does appear he doesn’t have that cutthroat mentality that somebody like a Kobe Bryant does that is needed to be a real winner in this league.

Then there’s the injuries. It started off with his back, and recently has also included his knees. He hasn’t played every game in the regular season since 2009-10. To put that into a little bit of perspective, he played in every game for the Magic five out of his first six years in the league.

So could it be that Orlando cashed in on him at just the right time?Right at that sweet spot of squeezing the most talent out of losing their best player? It seems possible, he’s gradually broken down since and after that first back injury in particular it looked like he’d lost some things from his game.

His numbers have also dipped since moving away to Florida. Playing with Bryant and Harden mean less touches for the big guy, but that fact only holds up so much. His last year in Orlando, he had a career high 14.5 rebounds a game. This year he’s averaging 11 (Vucevic is averaging 11.2) and he hasn’t come near even 13 rebounds a game since the separation.

The last year with the Magic he played an average of 38.3 minutes a game, a huge amount. These days it’s 32.2, and he hasn’t topped 36 since leaving either.

Howard is getting older of course, but this guy is only 29, and supposed to be in the middle of his prime. If this is Howard at his very best, the fact he isn’t doing it in a Magic uniform is easier to swallow. Points and blocks are down as well since leaving, but he’s only taking on average two less shots a night compared to before.

He’s just not the player he once was consistently anymore. He still has huge nights, big weeks and memorable plays. It just feels like we’ve already seen the best of Dwight Howard, and he didn’t turn being the most dominant player in the league into more than one finals appearance.

So looking back, I think Orlando moved this guy along at just the right time. The numbers and his mounting injuries (he’s played in only 32 games and has didn’t make the All-Star team for the first time since his second year in the league) point to a guy whose powers are on the decline.

Still a great player when playing well and critical to the Rockets’ hopes of winning a championship, but no longer as the centerpiece player. Although their hand was forced somewhat, in the end I think the Orlando Magic got the best out of Howard the player, while also getting the best players they could in return for his services. Who’d have thought that when the deal went down?

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