NBA free agency rumors: Dwight Howard’s meeting with Atlanta Hawks went very well

Free agent center and Atlanta native Dwight Howard met with the Atlanta Hawks in Buckhead and the meeting reportedly went very well.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, “Atlanta Hawks and free agent Dwight Howard made a strong connection in meeting [Friday].”

Howard is the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft out of high school in Atlanta. Though he has never played for his hometown team, there has always been some level of intrigue with regards to Howard playing for the Hawks.

Previously Howard wouldn’t consider signing with Atlanta because the organization was poorly run under former ownership group Atlanta Spirit Group [ASG]. ASG was responsible for the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers relocating to Winnipeg in 2011 and had to ultimately give up majority control after the organization came under fire with the Danny Ferry remarks about Luol Deng two summers ago.

Now with a new ownership group in place led by majority owner Tony Ressler, Atlanta has had front office stability it frankly has never had before. Howard is not the same player he was for the Orlando Magic from 2004 to 2012, but can still help the Hawks in rebounding, rim protection, and low-post play should Atlanta end up signing him.

While Atlanta will surely want to keep top-tier free agent in center Al Horford in 2016 NBA free agency, the Hawks are running into issues with offering Horford that extra fifth year on a sure-to-be max contract.

With the free agency center market beginning to dry up with Hassan Whiteside, Andre Drummond, Al Jefferson, and even Timofey Mozgov getting major paydays, Howard is not a bad option for the Hawks to consider in their starting front court should they fail to re-sign Horford. Pairing Howard with Millsap in the starting lineup might make an already great Atlanta defense even more spectacular in 2016-17.

For more NBA free agency news, please check out our NBA free agency category page.