Washington Wizards: Will things be different for Dwight Howard this time?

Dwight Howard is looking for yet another fresh start with the Washington Wizards, but will anything be any different this time around?

There are few NBA traditions I look forward to more than the annual game of Dwight Howard offseason hot potato.

Since the 2011-12 season, his last full year with the Orlando Magic, Dwight has bounced from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Houston Rockets to the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets to the Brooklyn Nets and now to the Washington Wizards. For those counting at home, that’s six teams in six years.

His latest stint with Brooklyn was over before it started. Dwight was officially traded to the Nets on July 6, immediately waived, ate roughly $5 million in the buyout process and signed a two-year Mid-Level Exception deal with Washington for $11 million.

One week. Brooklyn fired that hot potato quicker than a LeBron James chest pass.

So what can we expect from the next episode of Dwight Howard’s career? Well for starters, we need to look at what Dwight actually has to offer these days.

At this point in his career, Dwight is a 32-year0old throwback big man averaging decent counting stats (16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game) who can no longer effectively run, shoot, post up, defend outside the paint, space the floor or play meaningful postseason minutes (didn’t anyone remind Ernie Grunfeld about Dwight’s playoff effort last season against Atlanta?).

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In his defense, maybe Dwight’s stint in DC will be different. I mean, Washington is a different team. Perhaps the “Dwight is a locker room cancer” narrative is more of an exception than the rule and this latest move to Washington is just what he needs to get going again.

Upon further review, it seems to be more of the rule with Dwight. Not convinced? Look no further than the last four pit stops.

Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte.

Notice a trend?

Each team featured a ball-dominant alpha dog who refused to cater to Dwight’s demand for offensive touches six feet from the rim.  Every time the situation metastasized into an unhappy Dwight and thus the negative locker room reputation.

But that’s all different now that he’s in Washington, playing with [checks notes]… John Wall. Gulp.

How about style of play?

The Wizards are at their best playing in transition with John Wall facilitating the offense, running full steam towards the rim or kicking it to the perimeter for a Bradley Beal/Otto Porter Jr. open 3.

Nowadays, Dwight Howard seems allergic to his own sweat. Just look at his recent stints in Atlanta and Charlotte. Both experienced noticeable reductions in pace of play with Howard on the court, which doesn’t bode well for Washington’s offense.

But alas, here we are. The Wizards brass has already bought into the Dwight Howard hype train (which at this point resembles more of a Thomas the Tank Engine).

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I know, I know. I am probably being overly harsh and the negatives seem to be a bit overstated if not overplayed at this point. There has to be some upside right?

I looked. Only one factor stood out: He’s cheap.

Right now, the Wizards are financially capped out until 2021 with significant investment into their Big 3 of John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter.

Washington also didn’t help itself by having to pay Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi roughly $30 million for the upcoming 2018-19 season.

By trading Gortat for Austin Rivers, the Wizards essentially swapped contracts and found a suitable guard to facilitate the second team when Wall is resting; however, the cap situation remained the same.

Outside of trading a future first round pick to get oout of Mahinmi’s albatross contract, there weren’t many viable options given the salary cap situation. Hence, Washington was forced to the big man bargain bin to find an acceptable replacement for the glaring hole in the starting rotation.

Enter Dwight Howard.

Accepting more risk for minimal return isn’t the best recipe for success.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

This probably won’t end well.