Dwight Howard is different, and exactly the same

Dwight Howard has open floor in front of him. That is usually not an invitation for a big man to attack. That is when you get the ball up the floor to a guard and hustle yourself through that open space to get it back as a trailer for a rim-rattling dunk.

But this is Dwight Howard. And off he goes with the ball. The right decision here is not the Dwight decision. He is going to go for broke.

This is the part where groans come in. Howard is doing it again, possibly hurting his team in some seemingly forced attempt to have fun or put a goofy smile on his face. The player once criticized for smiling too much as his team paraded to the NBA Finals.

That former MVP candidate, perennial All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year is long gone. Lost to a back injury and a NBA that found a way o neutralize his brand of athleticism. Howard essentially became neutered. The revolution he spread defensively with his uber athleticism and rim protection went to others while Howard slowed down. And Howard’s defensive slippage made his offensive shortcomings more obvious, not to mention his ego and desire to be a back-to-the-basket big even though that never fit Howard’s style.

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The 2018 season though has seen a bit of a revival from Howard. He is averaging 16.1 points per game, his most since 2014, the last year he was an All-Star. Howard is also posting 12.7 rebounds per game and 32.3 percent defensive rebound rate, his second straight year with a rebound rate greater than 30 percent.

His revival for a struggling Charlotte Hornets team has to be more than just his reuniting with Steve Clifford, a former coach from his dominant days with the Orlando Magic (especially with Clifford on indefinite leave because of health problems). Howard is playing with an added energy that has shown some reminder of his glory days.

The Hornets give up a lowly 101.7 defensive rating with Howard on the floor, compared to 108.0 with him off the floor. It helps that the Hornets play their two best players — Kemba Walker and Dwight Howard — together so often. Charlotte is just significantly better with them on the floor together — playing like a 54-win team according to NBA Math’s FATS calculator with that duo on the floor.

It is hard to look at Howard and explain why the Hornets are such a poor 10-19. Injuries have hurt the team. And when Howard plays without Walker, the team starts to go into the tank — a 97.4 offensive rating and 110.8 defensive rating, per NBA WOWY.

Howard is not back. Not in the least. When the Hornets have to rely on him for anything more than defense, rebounding, screening or rim-running, things get very bad very quickly.

Those vaunted post ups Howard seems always to be clamoring about? They are as bad as ever. Howard scores a woeful 0.78 points per possession on 7.0 post-up possessions per game according to NBA.com. That puts him in the 34.6th percentile. Posting up Howard has long been a fool’s errand — he was at 0.84 points per possession on 3.7 possessions per game on post-ups with the Atlanta Hawks last year — but this year it is downright silly.

Even as a roll man, Howard has struggled. According to NBA.com, Howard scores just 0.96 points per possession on 1.7 possessions per game as the roll man in pick-and-rolls. So what explains Howard’s sudden surge offensively? Howard is almost certainly not back, but is his production just merely empty numbers?

The Hornets’ record certainly suggests so. But the team’s play with him on the floor, at least as a supporter with the starters suggests he makes some difference.

There may not be an optimal way to fit Howard in. And the Hornets’ problems go much deeper than their stars — from injuries to properly staggering lineups and rotations to finding a secondary creator to spell Walker. Howard is no cure-all, nor is he the reason for blame.

What is clear from watching Howard is that he seems healthy again. He is moving around the floor and attacking the glass with the same fervor and energy he had in his younger days. As much as anything, it seems Howard’s role when he is playing well has been reduced to what it was his rookie year when he was that precocious mass of potential. In those early years with the Orlando Magic, the team asked him simply to rebound and run the floor. It was a fairly simple role.

The Hornets are not asking him to do anything that simple. They want him involved in the offense a bit more. Just how much and how to get him involved are still the big questions. Howard is good at what he is good at — chasing offensive rebounds and scoring put backs. He is still bad at what he is bad at — post-ups mostly. But he can still provide value. And he has provided some clear value for the Hornets. Maybe more than they anticipated even before the season.

The question is just how long these good feelings will last. Howard has left a path of destruction wherever he has gone the last five years. Something always comes up that seems to leave him dissatisfied. Howard is getting the most field goal attempts per game he has had in four years. That is sure to make him happy and may keep him engaged.

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In the end, the question is whether even this improved Howard, active and engaged, is really enough to matter for the Hornets.