For Dwight Howard, his fourth NBA team is the charm.
Or so he hopes.
The 30-year-old big man agreed to a four-year deal worth $70.5 million with the Atlanta Hawks shortly after free agency began, a move that likely became the impetus behind Al Horford’s departure. And now, after a disastrous season with the Houston Rockets, Howard is ready to begin his redemption campaign, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution‘s Chris Vivlamore:
“I want to do whatever I can to bring a championship home,” Howard said Tuesday from Philips Arena while attending a Dream game. “I know it’s not going to be easy. I’ve worked extremely hard this summer, every summer. I’m very motivated. I’m really (ticked) off about last season. I’m looking forward to coming back with a different mentality.”
It’ll be tough for Howard to bring a championship to Atlanta. The Hawks aren’t even close to the same team they were in 2014-15, when they won 60 games. Horford is gone. Jeff Teague is gone. Kyle Korver is older. Dennis Schroder now has the offensive reins.
The Hawks still do have a tantalizing starting lineup. Kent Bazemore, Paul Millsap, Korver, Shcroder and Howard make for a nice five-man unit, giving the Hawks more than enough to compete in the Eastern Conference.
But with Korver and Millsap due to hit free agency in 2017, and with Horford and Teague now playing elsewhere, the Hawks are staging a delicate act, rebuilding and competing at the same time. Even with Howard, they don’t have enough to overthrow the Cleveland Cavaliers, let alone the newly formed Golden State Warriors.
And that makes Howard’s quest in Atlanta a superficial one. He is far more likely to redeem himself as a player and person through individual and modest team success than he is to bring a title “home.”
