Dwight Howard will be suiting up for his 5th team since he publicly requested to be traded from the Orlando MAgic as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Dwight has been traded to the Lakers, left in free agency, signed with the Houston Rockets, then signed with his hometown Atlanta Hawks and then traded to the Charlotte Hornets the very following season.
Rarely do you see a player of Dwight’s caliber changing uniforms daily. Howard at 32 is still very serviceable and recently had season averages of 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds which can help any team with a hole in the middle of their lineup. The Wizards recently traded center Marcin Gortat to the LA Clippers so Howard should fit right into that gap left.
Howard has had a reputation of being difficult to get along with and also rubbing teammates the wrong way as evidenced by his disagreements with Kobe Bryant and James Harden in the past. He is apparently looking to change that image with his stint in the nation’s capital. The Wizards signed Dwight for the mid level exception so this appears to be a low risk high reward move on their part.
As per NBC Sports Dwight is hoping he can change the narrative on him with the Wizards this season:
From what I’ve been told by a source, he wants to change the narrative on him, what people perceive of him…. I’m excited about him. I went from being “okay” to being excited about him. Because from what I heard, he’s trying to change the image of him coming into a team and wearing out his welcome.
We will see if Dwight’s approach to this season will in fact be significantly different from year’s past and how it could possibly improve the Wizards moving forward.