Charlotte Hornets: 2017-18 player grades for Dwight Howard

A future Hall-of-Famer, Dwight Howard had another productive season, this time with the Charlotte Hornets. But how good was he?

Before the 2017-18 season, the Atlanta Hawks traded center Dwight Howard to the Charlotte Hornets for Marco Belinelli and Mile Plumlee (the teams also swapped first round picks). If someone told me even three years ago that all a Dwight Howard trade would net are a couple of veteran rotation players, I would have thought that person was crazy. But here we are.

At age 32, Howard isn’t even that old. However, many fans, analysts and front office people concur that the former eight-time All-Star isn’t the player he once was. His assortment of back injuries over the years have sapped him of some of his athleticism, which forces him to rely on skills that he never truly refined.

Even so, Howard was still productive for the Hornets; I would even say that he put up borderline All-Star numbers. The former No. 1 overall pick averaged a double-double for the 14th consecutive season. He also finished with a Player Efficiency Rating of 20 or higher in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2010-12 (his final two years with the Orlando Magic).

So which one is it? Is Howard still a dominant force inside? Is he a shell of his former self? Well, you’re going to have to read further to find out.