Houston Rockets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Rockets
By Phil Watson
Dwight Howard. 9. player. 169. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Free agent, July 13, 2013.. C. 2013-16
Dwight Howard was the hottest free agent on the market in the summer of 2013 and the Houston Rockets landed him with a four-year max deal in July 2013.
But the results didn’t live up to the hope … or the hype.
Howard was an All-Star and an All-NBA selection in 2013-14, despite missing 11 games with a sprained left ankle.
In 2014-15, Howard was limited to just 41 games because of knee and ankle injuries and he missed time last year when back problems sidelined him.
Still, Howard was second in the NBA in field-goal percentage and fourth in rebounding in 2015-16 and was third in field-goal shooting and fourth in rebounding in 2013-14.
But in postseason play, the Rockets had two first-round exits sandwiched around a conference finals appearance in 2015.
In 2015-16, he averaged 13.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.0 steals in 31.2 minutes per game, shooting .620/0-for-6/.490.
Howard declined his option for 2016-17 and signed with the Atlanta Hawks for three years and $70.5 million on July 12, 2016.
In three seasons in Houston, Howard averaged 16.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 32.2 minutes a game on .601/3-for-15/.523 shooting.
The top-ranked high school recruit in the nation in 2004, Howard never made a commitment to any of the colleges that were pursuing him before opting into the NBA Draft.
The Orlando Magic took the big kid from Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy with the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft and he matured into their franchise player.
With the Magic, he was a first team All-Rookie selection in 2004-05 and wound up a six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA pick and five-time All-Defensive selection.
He was also the NBA Defensive Player of the Year three straight seasons (2008-09 through 2010-11) and led Orlando to the NBA Finals in 2009.
Howard led the league in rebounding four times, in blocks twice and in field goal percentage once while with the Magic.
But he pressed for a trade and in August 2012 got his wish as he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a four-team deal that included the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers.
Howard was an All-Star and All-NBA selection with the Lakers in 2012-13 while leading the league in rebounding. But it was a short stay and he opted to head into free agency that summer.
He is 27th in NBA history with 11,149 rebounds, 21st with 1,824 blocked shots, fifth with a field goal percentage of .582, 13th with an average of 12.7 rebounds per game and 20th with an average of 2.1 blocks per game.
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