It seems like the never-ending saga of where Dwight Howard (AKA “Superman”) will end up once the 2013-2014 NBA Season kicks off has reached another fork in the road.
Of course, there will be a whole cavalcade of suitors for the five-time All-Star’s services.
There are also the alleged teams most likely to get his signature on one of their contracts – like the Brooklyn Nets, Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks (his hometown team).
But, in my opinion, which teams then could he sign with where his presence would benefit both parties?
Here are my selections:
(a) Dallas Mavericks
Easy. Not only do the Mavs require another consistent inside presence other than Dirk Nowitzki, but Howard’s signing could alleviate some of the defensive and rebounding pressure off of Dirk’s shoulders.
It would mean that if and when Dirk picks up another injury, they always still have Howard inside offensively to score about 20-25 ppg given the opportunities.
They have the backcourt machinations sorted out with OJ Mayo, Darren Collison and Vince Carter and the coach that can get the best out of all parties in Rick Carlisle. Cuban needs to stop looking at Brittney Griner and preparing home and away uniforms for the most athletic big man in the business.
(b) Boston Celtics
Just imagine teaming Howard up with future Hall-of-Famers in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in Beantown. Celt fans would then start dreaming about even more championship banners hanging from the rafters at Celtics Arena.
How about revisiting the halcyon days of Bird, McHale and “The Chief” Parish for 2014. The Celts need Howard so they can no longer be forced to play a broken-down KG in the pivot rather than at his natural power forward position.
Plus, Howard would be able to make even more All-Star appearances as the Eastern Conference is virtually devoid of pure Centres at the moment.
Outside of the oft-injured A’mare Stoudemire and, maybe, the Pacers Roy Hibbert (who isn’t in that class as of yet).
(c) Atlanta Hawks
For much the same reasons as Boston would need him, the Hawks could use him so that they can shift Al Horford and Josh Smith to their more natural positions.
It was the lack of a dominant interior presence that did them in against the Indiana Pacers in the end.
Having Howard around would ensure that that would no longer be the case.
Horford doesn’t have the size to battle opposition seven-footers on a daily basis, and Smith’s game is more suited to the ‘3’ spot at this stage of his career.
Can Atlanta entice “Superman” back to his home state when he, apparently, has stated that he does not want to do that? We shall see.
(d) Philadelphia 76ers
As insurance if Andrew Bynum will never fully recover from his major injury setbacks.
Bynum could become another Greg Oden if he is not careful, so Howard could allow them to quickly cover for that bad deal that Howard was part of a year ago.
It would be great irony on that part, but maybe the Sixers organisation would not see it that way if a Howard signing gets them back into the Playoffs on a consistent basis.
and, finally,
(e) Orlando Magic
With Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith not anywhere near the vicinity, and a very popular coach in Jacque Vaughn in charge of the team, maybe the Magic can convince the man who publicly and acrimoniously criticised the franchise in every conceivable way, to return.
His presence alone could attract other marquee free agents like Chris Paul or Deron Williams to sign on the dotted line as well. Or, maybe not. It could just be a pipe dream for one of the most poorly-managed teams in the NBA right now.
As for the teams most likely to grab Howard’s signature, the Nets already have an All-Star in Brook Lopez patrolling the middle, and the Rockets have a much-improved Omer Asik who has shown he is a much better contributor as a starter.
Those two teams really don’t need someone like Dwight Howard at the moment.
Those are just my opinions, mind. Whatever is the case, Dwight will not have another season like this one was for him, both as a player and personally.
That could be a good thing for whomever is lucky enough to sign him up.
With that, “the basketball world has been put right, Because it has been demonised tonight!”
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
