As annoying as he can be, Dwight Howard would be a good on-court fit with the Celtics
The 30-year-old center still has some of the skills that Brad Stevens's team lacks.
COMMENTARY
The news that free-agent center and noted fart enthusiast Dwight Howard has booked a meeting with the Celtics presents a massive conundrum for those of us who don’t want to mess with the team’s special chemistry but also recognize the contributions the 30-year-old man child — more like child man, to be precise — could make.
The Celtics have a roster full of likable players and a significant void at center. Howard has a significant void in likability — there’s a reason a player of his stature is headed to his fourth team in six years — but would be a helpful addition to the Celtics’ roster. So do you sacrifice chemistry for talent? Or do you pass on what he could bring because his flaws – on the court and off — aren’t worth the nuisance?
I’m tempted to stick to my stance from a conversation with one of my editors this morning in the immediate aftermath of the news breaking about the Howard/Celtics meeting:
Editor: He does give them something they don’t have right now.
Me: Yeah, a [super-mean synonym for jerk].
The reasons for preferring that Howard’s basketball journey takes him to another city besides this one are fairly obvious if you’ve followed his career. He’s duplicitous, and he’s really bad at it, as Stan Van Gundy can confirm.
He can be pouty and disengaged, and he’s not serious enough in big moments. (I still can’t believe the Magic ended the Celtics’ season in 2009.) He thinks of himself as a primary scoring option and demands the ball in the post, but he doesn’t have any actual post moves to speak of, other than that sort of running, half-hook thingy.
I’d never suggest he’s not a hard worker — no one is born with shoulders as cartoonishly broad as his — but his fundamental basketball skills haven’t improved noticeably in his 12 years in the league. They’ve actually eroded in other areas, and he seems blissfully undaunted by any of that. I guess making roughly $170 million so far in his career is justification enough for the direction he has chosen. But he could have been more.
Howard opted out of a remaining $23 million on his deal with the Rockets, which suggests one of two things, and maybe both:
- He wants to find a more satisfying situation than the one he had in Houston.
- He thinks he has another huge deal coming his way.
The Celtics could fulfill both wishes, I suppose. But the only way it makes any sense to bring him to Boston is on something like the now-common two-year deal with a one-year opt out, appeasing Howard with a slightly higher salary than he made last year. He’ll probably do better than that elsewhere, and the Celtics are apparently aware of that, which is good news.
Regarding Dwight Howard, hearing that right now Celtics have no plans for aggressive pursuit. Will always listen to see if a price is right.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 29, 2016
But if the price is right … well, it’s intriguing from a basketball standpoint, I’ll admit it. As unappealing as the thought of Howard on the Celtics is in terms of affecting their chemistry and likability, my editor was correct: He would give them something they don’t have right now. He’s a three-time defensive player of the year and a still-imposing rim protector who would serve as the backbone of a hellacious defense. Imagine the havoc Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, and — oh, hell, why not — Kevin Durant could cause with Howard as the backbone. He still rebounds well (11.8 per game in 2015-16), and the Celtics could use help on the boards.
He’d be a good fit, if he’d allow it. It would be fascinating to discover how Brad Stevens — a master at putting flawed players in a position to thrive — would utilize him. It would also be fascinating — and probably exasperating — to discover whether Howard, a complementary offensive player at this point who still whines about touches like he’s a No. 1 option, would resist Stevens’s wisdom.
It’s just a guess, but I can’t see Durant — who is meeting with a half-dozen teams in free agency, and thus has unbelievable leverage over a half-dozen teams right now — wanting to play with him. Durant is reportedly tight with James Harden, who clashed with Howard in that cauldron of egos in Houston.
I can, however, see Danny Ainge — who shares Red Auerbach’s willingness to take chances on talented knuckleheads and could get Kevin McHale’s candid thoughts on what it was like to coach him — being intrigued by the thought of getting Howard on a short deal. And I can see Stevens being intrigued by what Howard could do to enhance an already stellar defense.
He’s no one’s first choice — we all know who that is — but he’d be an interesting choice. I can’t convince myself that I want Dwight Howard here. But if Ainge and Stevens decide they do, I’m smart enough to respect the men making that decision. Hopefully Howard would be too.
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