Why Dwight Howard Is A Better Fit For The Atlanta Hawks This Season Than Al Horford

The Atlanta Hawks are trying fusion cookery this year, attempting to win with the old and the new. Getting Dwight Howard to Atlanta will help improve their offense and defense.

When the Atlanta Hawks pulled the trigger and signed Dwight Howard, they signaled to Al Horford that his time with Atlanta had come to an end. Horford has since moved to the Boston  Celtics, leaving the Hawks to their own devices.

I have to admit that I like the move for Atlanta. There is risk, but I think the risk versus reward scenario is worth it.

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Horford is a great team man, he has made a career excelling within a team. He has never been “The Man” that Howard has been on most of his teams. Howard on the other hand, except for his time with the Houston Rockets has always been a star.

The risk for the Atlanta Hawks is that Howard’s knees will not hold up. He missed half of the 2014-15 season with knee issues. Last season however, Howard played 71 games, which admittedly was 11 less than Horford, but still was not a bad number.

In the games that he played, Horford averaged 32.2 minutes per game compared to Howard’s 32.1 minutes. So let’s now look at what Atlanta is getting versus what they were getting.

Rebounding

There are two categories of rebounding to consider and Howard wins both of these. In offensive rebounding, Howard provided 3.4 boards per game last season, compared to Horford’s 1.8. This is almost double the output and will give Atlanta one or two shots more per game.

In career numbers, Horford is a little closer with 2.4 per game compared to 3.5 per game, but Howard’s offensive rebounding will be more important this year to the Hawks.

Kyle Korver is getting older and will be 36 when the new season starts. In 2014-15, Korver shot 49.2 percent from beyond the three-point line. In 2015-16 that percentage fell to 39.8, a fall of just under 10 percent.

Add to this All-Star point guard Jeff Teague being traded away and a younger, less experienced point guard taking his place in Dennis Schroder. There will be fewer open looks, so offensive rebounding becomes more important.

The second category of rebounding is defensive rebounding. Last season Horford averaged 5.5 defensive rebounds per game compared to Howard’s 8.4 rebounds. Add this to that Paul Millsap averages 6.6 rebounds and there should be very few offensive rebounds against Atlanta this season.

Passing

Howard is not on the same level as Horford with his passing. Horford has a career average of 2.7 assists per game, which is almost double that of Howard’s 1.5 assists per game. I actually think that this will help Atlanta.

Atlanta has embodied team basketball, which is great in the regular season. LeBron James showed us that the NBA Finals can be won with a good team and a superstar to take over the games. Howard needs to be that player for the Atlanta Hawks.

Also, setting plays up for Howard will help the half court offense of the Hawks. Once Howard gets the ball close to the rim, it will rarely come out. Howard is still dominant enough to have defenses want to collapse on him.

With Kent Bazemore and Korver having three-point percentages of more that 36 percent last season, that will be hard.

Howard is still a good enough passer to find these players if they are open for an easier look. This will also help space the floor for Millsap to use his unusual skill set to hurt the opposition.

Rim Protection and Defense

This is the area where Howard far outshines Horford. Howard’s career numbers for blocks is 2.1 per game compared to Horford’s 1.2 blocks per game. So apart from blocking almost one shot per game more, Howard’s presence alters many shots. Players drive against Horford without huge fear of their shot being blocked.

If a player drives against Howard there is always a thought in their mind that they have a good chance of being blocked. There is no room for doubt in the NBA when taking a shot; Howard inspires doubt.

Howard also has a slight edge over Horford in steals per game. Howard’s career average is 1.0 per game compared to Horford’s 0.8 per game.

Combine Howard’s greater defensive presence with Millsap’s already stellar defense and the Atlanta Hawks will be difficult to score against in the paint.

Scoring

This is the most difficult category to separate the two centers. On paper it is easy, over his career Howard has averaged 17.8 points per game on a field goal percentage of 58.2 percent. Horford has only averaged 14.3 points per game with a field goal percentage of 53.5 percent.

However, it is not as simple as that. Horford is a shooter with greater range than Howard, hitting 109 of 321 three-point shots in his career (34 percent). Howard has hit five of 54 for 9.3 percent.

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Horford is able to offer any team he plays on this range, meaning that he can space the floor by moving the opposing center away from the paint.

Howard is your more traditional center who dominates and overpowers opposing centers and opposing teams require double-teams to stop him. This is how he helps space the floor.

The other clear advantage that Horford has over Howard is his free throw shooting. Horford is a career 74.3 percent free throw shooter. Howard’s career percentage is 56.8 percent.

Fortunately, the amended Hack-A Whoever rule helps Howard somewhat. His foul shooting is not so awful that he has to be taken off the court all the time like DeAndre Jordan.

Overall

Howard is a much better fit for the Atlanta Hawks this season. He has a point to prove after his time in Houston. Coming home will also strike a cord with Howard.

More hoops habit: Atlanta Hawks: 2016 Offseason Grades

His rebounding, scoring and shot blocking should take Atlanta back into the top tier of the Eastern Conference. That is, providing the rest of the pieces fall into place around him.