Here’s Why Dwight Howard is a Great Option for Celtics

Dwight Howard may have had a couple of rough years, but he could be the star center the Celtics have been missing

Just five years ago Dwight Howard was seen as one of the few “good guys” in the NBA. He was seen as a laid back, fun, easy-going superstar. In the four seasons since, the public’s perception of Howard has completely changed. He’s no longer seen as a great teammate, leader and player, rather, Howard is known as a complainer, cancer to a locker room, and an injury-prone past his prime center.

Despite the bad reputation he now holds, Howard is still expected to get multiple max offers this summer. In a weaker free agency class, Howard is one of the best centers available, and would be an instant improvement for the Boston Celtics. No, he’s no longer a superstar, but you’d be hard-pressed not to consider him a star in the league.

No matter what your opinion is on Howard and his declining game, there’s no denying he’d make the Celtics better, instantly become their best big man and be the rim protector they’ve been searching for. A lot of people would rather have the Celtics skip over Howard and look towards the second-tier of big men if they miss out on Al Horford and Hassan Whiteside.

In fact, Danny Ainge might be one of those people. Despite getting a meeting with Howard, Ainge is not expected to make a hard push for the eight-time All-Star, according to Adam Himmelsbach. That alone isn’t breaking news after the season Howard is coming off of. A lot of teams will be cautious to give a max contract to the 30-year-old center.

Although, when you pair that news with the fact that the Celtics are favored to land Howard, it becomes very interesting and puzzling. According to Bovada, the Celtics have 10/11 odds of signing Howard – the best odds in the NBA. Obviously Bovada doesn’t know what Howard is thinking, but it does raise the question of whether he might take a pay cut to join the Celtics. In that case, how could the Celtics pass on him?

With teams willing to offer him a max contract, why would Howard take a pay cut, though?

Well, after 12 seasons in the NBA, and only one Finals appearance, Howard knows his time is running out. He may only be 30-years-old but he came straight out of high school so his decline, which is starting to happen, has come sooner than some players. Still, Howard is one of the most dominating centers in the game and I think he has enough juice left in him to help guide the Celtics deep into the playoffs.

The biggest concern about Howard is his attitude. Although, just five years ago when he was in Orlando, he was seen as one of the “nice guys” in the NBA. His one season in Los Angeles hurt his reputation as playing with Kobe Bryant changed how people viewed him.

We all knew Howard was a jokester, a funny guy in the locker room, but the idea of Howard not caring got blown out of proportion. Partly because he and Bryant were such different people and approached the game differently. However, the same “problem” happened when Shaq and Kobe were together, the difference was they won championships and the 2012-13 Lakers finished 45-37 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Obviously his reputation got even worse this past season when the Houston Rockets barely made the playoffs and became the laughing stock of the NBA. It’s easy to forget that the season before they made it to the Western Conference Finals, with Dwight Howard being one of their leaders in the playoffs. Howard led the playoffs with 14 rebounds per game, and also added 16.4 points.

The Golden State Warriors ended up winning the series, however, it proved that believing Dwight Howard can’t be a main piece on a winning team is ludicrous.

Sure, this past season for the Houston Rockets was a mess, but again, it should be taken with a grain of salt. The Rockets got off to a rocky start and then fired their very good coach in Kevin McHale. It led to a lot of unnecessary tension in the locker room, specifically between their two stars James Harden and Howard.

Bad locker rooms has started to become more common wherever Howard has been, however, that could all change in Boston. The Celtics have a lot of stability in their front office with Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens signing extensions. Plus, there wasn’t drama in the Celtics locker room last season. Despite what people may believe, Howard is not a bad guy, he just needs to be in a better situation.

While I don’t think he’ll be any trouble off-the-court, the most important part is what he can do on the court. His production has decreased, but to blame it on injuries doesn’t seem fair. Since leaving Orlando, Howard has played in at least 70 games three of the four seasons. He has also been very productive, but, like previously noted, last season he wasn’t in the best situation.

Howard still managed to contribute 13.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game on 62 percent shooting from the field. For a bad season, that’s extremely impressive, especially when considering he would have easily led the team in rebounds and blocks last season with those numbers. Going to a team who struggles on the glass could really help Howard’s game.

He’d be able to go back to what made him so great early in his career, being a defensive and rebounding machine. Before joining the Houston Rockets, Howard led the league in rebounds per game five of the last six seasons, and averaged 14.1 boards per contest the other season. Being a 12-rebound a night guys is obviously outstanding, although I wouldn’t count out the possibility of Howard reaching 13 or 14 boards per night in the right situation.

Considering the Celtics attempted the most shots per game last season, and many threes, Howard would be the perfect center to help on the offensive glass. His athleticism and long reach allows him to chase down long rebounds as well as any center in the league.

He has averaged at least three offensive rebounds per game in every season, except in 2014-15. In fact, his 11.7 offensive rebounding percentage ranks 30th all-time.

Besides helping on the glass and providing the Celtics with a much-needed rim protector, Howard’s underrated offensive game would be a perfect fit in Boston as well. Even though the NBA is starting to become mostly a perimeter game, and Howard attempted 98 percent of his shots from inside of 10 feet last season, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a role on offense.

It was clear that the post game is still very important in the playoffs, on both ends. Being the freak of nature that Howard is, he’s the rare type of NBA center who can bully his way down low in a post-up game. He wasn’t able to showcase this ability as much since leaving Orlando because he played with score-first guards James Harden and Kobe Bryant. Although, he was the main reason the Magic made it to the Finals in 2009.

Of course, the NBA has changed since then, but Howard is more than just an extremely accurate shooter in the paint. Providing Isaiah Thomas another option when driving the lane would be very beneficial for Boston.

Thomas has made many circus shots over the past year and a half with the Celtics, however, Howard provides a big down low he can lob it to if an opposing defender slides over to help. It not only keeps potential double-teams from happening but Howard has made a living off finishing alley-oops from a driving guard.

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Signing Dwight Howard may not be the “cool thing” at the moment, but it brings the Celtics a lot closer to another championship. Howard’s not going to single-handedly bring them to the Finals, but he’s an attractive piece alongside Isaiah Thomas who is more than capable of acting as the second or third option of a Big 3.

Besides, it’s very hard to find a star in the NBA who impacts the game as much as Howard does without needing the ball. It allows Isaiah Thomas to continue to be the main option on offense, yet also gives him a security blanket down low on both ends.

Even if Howard isn’t on the top of Danny Ainge’s list, are they in a position to turn him away if he does have serious interest in joining the Celtics? Boston doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to signing stars, and a trade is seeming very unlikely at this point, therefore, getting interest from a star is rare and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

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Maybe Howard doesn’t take a pay cut for Boston, but even signing him to a max contract shows free agents next summer that they’re motivated to getting better right now. Maybe it’s just me but, Isaiah Thomas, Dwight Howard and …., with a strong bench seems like a title contender to me.