Does Dwight Howard Need A Change of Scenery?

Maximizing Howard’s Ability

If you’re looking for a great inside presence to anchor the team and draw attention away from James Harden to allow him to get to work, Dwight Howard is obviously a pretty good option.

Is that the best way for Houston to get a return on the $88 million they’ll have paid out to Howard by the time his contract expires? Is that the strategy that will allow Howard to showcase just how talented he is as he enters the latter years of his career?

I would argue that the answer is no, on both counts.

Of course, it’s been a long time since Dwight’s dominant play with the Orlando Magic, and his time has been compounded by a string of injuries since. At the same time, there’s been a common trend in his surroundings in the time since that have forced a reduced role upon Howard too.

With the Lakers, Howard was always going to have to settle into a role that fit around Kobe Bryant, while the Rockets create a similar scenario with the play of James Harden. That’s not to say that either of those teams should have chosen to run more of their play through Howard instead, more that he may never have been a good fit in the first place.

Howard’s best years in terms of all-round production, as well as efficiency, came at a time where he was taking more shots.

Per Basketball-Reference, in 2010-11 in Orlando, Howard attempted a career high of 12.9 field goals per-36 minutes, managed to shoot just below 60 percent to go with his 22.9 points and 14.1 rebounds, posted his best ever defensive rating, and picked up his third straight Defensive Player of the Year.

This season with the Rockets, he’s only managing 9.2 shots per-36, and it’s clear that that isn’t what’s going to bring out the best in the Atlanta native.

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