NBA Rumors: Dwight Howard Interested In Signing With Knicks
Three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-NBA First Team selection Dwight Howard is interested in playing for the New York Knicks.
For better or worse, the task the New York Knicks are faced with is surrounding Carmelo Anthony with enough talent to get back into the playoffs in 2016-17. Maxing out at a first-round exit is not the goal, but missing the playoffs is not an option.
New York may have found a potentially affordable option who’s looking to rediscover his days as an All-Star with the help of the Triangle Offense.
New York will inevitably be interested in every one of the star free agents on the open market. That includes 2014 NBA MVP Kevin Durant, four-time All-Star Al Horford, reigning blocks leader Hassan Whiteside, and perennial postseason point guard Mike Conley.
According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, one of the big-name free agents who actually is interested in joining the Knicks is Dwight Howard.
"Some of Howard’s friends have let it be known recently that the center would be interested in coming to New York as a free agent if he opts out of his current contract, league sources say."
This isn’t the first time Howard has been linked to the Knicks.
Love Howard or hate him, there are a number of facts that need to be acknowledged. For starters, no team he’s played for has missed the playoffs since 2005-06—a remarkable streak of nine consecutive years with a postseason appearance.
During his 12-year career, Howard has been to the NBA Finals once and the Conference Finals on three different occasions.
While he may not be the star he used to be, Howard is still an influential figure on the low block. Despite being phased out by his teammates in 2015-16, he managed to overcome a frustrating situation by ranking No. 2 in the NBA in field goal percentage and No. 4 in rebounding.
A true testament to Howard’s season is that he publicly owned up to being responsible for some of the issues in Houston.
That’s a commendable action for a player whose maturity has been called into question on more than one occasion.
Robin Lopez is a fine NBA center who helped the Knicks rank No. 1 in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage at the rim in 2015-16. Much of what he does fails to show up in the box score, however, as he selflessly boxes out to enable his teammates to crash the boards.
Howard is more of an elite rebounder individually than an enabler of another player’s contributions, but it’s hard to knock a player for ranking No. 4 in the NBA in rebounds per game and No. 3 in offensive rebounding.
Plain and simple, Howard knows how to dominate the glass.
The hope here is that Anthony and Howard would be a strong enough combination to lead New York back to the promise land. Both are still held in high regard, but their respective reputations have suffered due to recent injuries and a decline in production.
That creates an opportunity for redemption in a major market.
For Howard, specifically, playing in the Triangle Offense could do for him what it’s done for other great big men. He’s likely past the stage of his career where he could’ve had anything comparable to Shaquille O’Neal‘s success, but he can still be Phil Jackson‘s Andrew Bynum.
Howard’s post game is admittedly underdeveloped, but with Jackson and his coaching staff’s help, it can be improved.
Polarizing a player as he may be, it’d be naive of the Knicks to not at least explore the cost and logistics of signing a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.