Dwight Howard Signed by Wizards (updated Dwightmare thread)

[celticinorlando]

IF Howard would come on the cheap maybe..but you would lose Baynes and lose leadership.

[saltlover]

Didn't Al Horford sign here (for less money) because Atlanta traded for Howard?

If Al doesn't want to play with him, I don't want him.

Al was annoyed that the Hawks didn’t offer him a full max deal and felt they were prioritizing Dwight.  It’s unclear as to whether he didn’t want to play with Dwight — I’ve heard it both ways.

[celticinorlando]

I do not see Howard signing somewhere where he comes off the bench...and he will be coming off the bench in Boston.

[bdm860]

I'd rather have Baynes, but at this point in both of their careers, I think Baynes could actually end up costing more money than Dwight Howard, which is crazy to think about given the 2 players.

If anything, having another legit C available on the free agent market could help weaken the market for Baynes a little through simple supply and demand.

[Monkhouse]

Didn't Al Horford sign here (for less money) because Atlanta traded for Howard?

If Al doesn't want to play with him, I don't want him.

Al was annoyed that the Hawks didn’t offer him a full max deal and felt they were prioritizing Dwight.  It’s unclear as to whether he didn’t want to play with Dwight — I’ve heard it both ways.

First off, don't understand why people are believing Hornets players words like its gospel. Everyone with the exception of Walker, and maybe Lamb sucked; to put it lightly. Of course, they are going to get angry at the fact someone like Howard can just come in and take their shots, and score, when literally 3/4 of the roster just didn't do a good job.

Watching some dreadful Hornets game with a few friends from NC, they were disgusted at how discombobulated the chemistry was. No one trusted each other, MKG was disappointing once again, and only Walker/Howard seemed to know how to score.

Secondly, if Ainge picks up Howard, it is with the approval of everyone on the team.

We're here to win. Howard is simply a better player than Baynes.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

So who goes to the bench? Everyone says could be a baynes replacement without realizing without injuries he would be coming off the bench and he knew and accepted that from the start! I'm not putting the kids on the bench for DH. If he'd come off the bench fine. We could have gold in these two kids if we keep them, we have to keep them happy and no one as good as they are and could be wants to come off the bench they will leave as soon as they can. Keep them happy over what DH could bring (UNLESS he agrees to come off the bench), he is on his way out of the league, every other starter we have are either at, near or years away from their primes which makes them more important to keep happy (AH doesn't count because he is better and that's all I need to say)!

[celticsclay]

The ringer made an interesting point about how Vince carter used to be a pretty bad teammate with lots of individual accolades but has now become a very good locker room guy after being humbled

[celticsclay]

I would be ok if brown came off the bench. His offensive ability would be great off the bench and we have so much offense with Irving Hayward horford and Tatum already.

[Phantom255x]

We sure we can't add Howard AND keep Baynes??

I mean... what if Baynes came back at non-taxpayer raise (around 6M) and Howard signed with another exception (vet. minimum maybe)? Howard's already making like 23-24M next year as is lol.

[fairweatherfan]

The ringer made an interesting point about how Vince carter used to be a pretty bad teammate with lots of individual accolades but has now become a very good locker room guy after being humbled

Yeah but I think Vince was never really comfortable being a superstar and just wanted to play ball.  He seems to have no problem chugging away in Sacramento for example. Dwight has always been a clown who craved attention and the spotlight.

[celticinorlando]

Would you start Howard and shift Al to the 4? Brown the 6th man?

[celticsclay]

Funny how the world works. Remember when D12 to the Nets was big news?

Yeah. Back before the era of small-ball and 3-point longball shooting existed.

Dwight was great in the 4 out one in system that SVG ran. He'd have been great in the current style of play as well.

He was undone by his back injury that sapped his athleticism. He's not close to what he was back then. Back then he was a quicker Gobert who was a terror on offense to handle.

You live with all the childish BS when he was all-nba and/or MVP level, now you don't bother.

Yeah, Prime Dwight as I remember him had the ability to do what many of the low-skill physically-dominant centers of today struggle to do -- punish mismatches inside.  Dwight didn't have many moves at all down low but he was so strong it didn't matter, he could back down and take one step to the baseline, turn, and dunk over most smaller players.

Compare that to guys like Deandre, Gobert, Capela, Drummond etc who struggle to score efficiently around the basket unless they've got a clear lane rolling to the rim or are finishing an alley-oop.

There's certainly still room in the modern game for a big man that grabs 25% of available rebounds, finishes over 65% within 5 feet of the basket, and can easily go for 25-30 on 70% shooting if the opponent fails to put a pure big man with some size on him in the low post.

Problem is that it's a pretty high bar to clear.  Most rim running 5s in today's game are more in the Tyson Chandler mold, i.e. not much of a back to the basket game, struggle to shoot over 50% on post-ups even against much smaller players.

Plus of course, the big men with superstar talent coming into the league now aren't working on their back down game, they're trying to develop guard skills and a faceup game while they're still in college so they can hit outside shots and attack closeouts a la Anthony Davis or Karl Towns.  It makes sense to develop those skills.

But I'm kind of hoping that we see a 7 foot, 280 pound physical freak enter the league who can absolutely kill defenders inside.  And I don't mean one who likes to rely on fade-aways and step-backs like Joel Embiid.  I mean a guy who does what Dwight used to do, i.e. catch, turn and dunk within 3-4 seconds if the guy defending him wasn't an absolute tree.

Yeah Embid could be unstoppable down low. I don't know why he is obsessed with shooting 3's. i mean i think it is great he can have the threat, but he seems to want to camp out there.

Embiid isn't obsessed with shooting 3s.  He shot 3.4 threes out of 16.8 attempts and that doesn't include the shot attempts where he drew fouls (7.4 FTAs).   On a per minutes basis he shot fewer threes last season (3.4 in 30.3 min) last season than he did the prior season (3.2 threes in 25.4 min). 

I do think Embiid settles for jumpers and has a higher turnover rate when he gets tired.  He's having to carry too much of a load.  His usage rate 33.9% during the regular season (players with 40+ games played) was 2nd in the league behind Harden and just ahead of Westbrook.  Embiid has to create too much himself.  The Sixers were towards the bottom of the league in P&R attempts.

Jesus tazz I've heard a lifetime of 76ers pr from you the last few years. Save the responses for other people because at this point it's just a waste of both of our time

[celticsclay]

Would you start Howard and shift Al to the 4? Brown the 6th man?

I just floated this idea. The teams that do have a big center left usually do start them (then shift to small ball later in game). I think that could work

[celticinorlando]

Would you start Howard and shift Al to the 4? Brown the 6th man?

I just floated this idea. The teams that do have a big center left usually do start them (then shift to small ball later in game). I think that could work

Would be interesting because Al likes playing the 4 much more than the 5...and it gives Boston a legit shooter off the bench in Brown...

[saltlover]

Would you start Howard and shift Al to the 4? Brown the 6th man?

I just floated this idea. The teams that do have a big center left usually do start them (then shift to small ball later in game). I think that could work

I timed out trying to say something similar.  I would probably make it more situational, and only start him against teams with a traditional 5 (assuming everyone is healthy).  It would definitely help decrease the wear on Al.