Atlanta Hawks Feel Dwight Howard Is A Perfect Fit

The Atlanta Hawks are hoping a return to Dwight Howard’s hometown will help him revive a Hall-of-Fame caliber career.

The Atlanta Hawks roster underwent a seismic overhaul this summer, adding Dwight Howard in free agency while still negotiating a contract with Al Horford.

On the first day of free agency, Atlanta and Howard agreed to a three-year, $70.5 million contract. Howard was swayed to return to the city where he grew up, as he played high school basketball at Southwest Christian Academy, because the organization made him a priority this summer.

The desire to feel a part of the franchise was a strong factor for Howard. Houston shopped Howard at the trade deadline last year, then reduced his role in the offense for the rest of the year.

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The rift between Howard and the Rockets prompted him to exercise his player option this summer and become a free agent.

Since botching his exit from Orlando in 2012, Howard has struggled to ingrain himself with two other franchises, as his tenures with the Lakers and Rockets faced plenty of turmoil.

Howard chose to return to the city that felt the most comfortable to him.

“The organization is A-1 and I know they get the best out of their players. It’s a great organization and I’m glad to be a part of it,” Howard said prior to the Hawks preseason game against Orlando Sunday night. “Atlanta is great. So it’s a great feeling to be home.”

The signing of Howard led to Horford striking a free agent deal with the Boston Celtics.

Both the Hawks and Howard are expecting on a resurgence following a down statistical season from the eight-time All-Star.

A year ago, Howard averaged 13.7 points per game, the fewest since his rookie season, to go along with 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Howard was essentially neglected in Houston’s offensive attack last season, with four other teammates attempting more shots than him on a nightly basis, even though he averaged the second-most points on the team and ranked second in the league by converting 62 percent of his shots attempts from the field.

Any notions of Howard’s production slipping are overblown.

Only Miami center Hassan Whiteside managed to post a higher scoring average per game than Howard while taking fewer than 10 shot attempts per game.

Howard is still a terror when attacking the basket off a pick-and-roll play, as he converted 63 percent attempts off the play, generating a total of 100 points.

Kevin Durant was the only player to score more than Howard off the pick-and-roll while being involved in fewer than 10 percent of the pick-and-roll plays ran by the team while he was on the court.

In the three months since signing the contract, Howard has already made a strong impression within the organization.

“I really couldn’t be happier with how Dwight has kind of intergraded himself into our program,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s got a big personality that I think our team has welcomed. I feel its a great opportunity for us and him and we’re just looking forward to growing together.”

In three preseason appearances, Howard has averaged 15.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, posting his best effort during his first home appearance at Phillips Arena.

The 6-foot-11 center rested Sunday night, as Paul Millsap was the only starter to play in the contest.

Even though Atlanta posted the second best defensive rating in the league last season, the addition of Howard provides a sense of relief for his new teammates.

“With Dwight, I can really improve my aggressiveness on the ball with him back there cleaning it up at the rim,” Hawks forward Kent Bazemore said. “I can be really aggressive, and I think defensively I’m stronger.”

The team is hoping to become stronger rebounding the ball, a strength that strongly suits Howard.

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The 30-year-old has led the NBA in rebounding average five times during his career, while pulling down the most defensive rebounds six times and totaled the most offensive rebounds once.

Atlanta was the worst offensive rebounding team in the league last season and the addition of Howard is an upgrade over Horford in terms of defensive rebounding ability.

In 351 fewer minutes, Howard totaled 149 more defensive rebounds than Horford. When the season ended, Howard collected 597 defensive rebounds, falling just short of 600 for the ninth time in his career.

If Howard manages to collect 600 defensive rebounds during his first season in Atlanta, he will join Karl Malone, Tim Duncan and Dikembe Mutombo as the only players in league history to accomplish the feat at least nine times.

The move to Atlanta provides Howard something he has actively been seeking since departing Orlando five years ago, a truly fresh start.

“It’s a new chapter in my life,” Howard said. “There will always be good chapters and bad chapters. But I feel I’ve already gotten the bad chapters out of the way.”

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