Charlotte Hornets: Possible Howard Landing Spot?
The Charlotte Hornets were listed as a possible Dwight Howard landing spot in an early free agency report.
Did you think the Charlotte Hornets were done with Dwight Howard after a trade failed to get done at the deadline with the Houston Rockets?
Well, perhaps Howard could arrive during the off-season when the free agent money will be flying around. Strangely, reports from Anath Pandian of CBS Sports about that possibility appeared today, before the Houston Rockets played Game 5 of their series with the Golden State Warriors.
The Rockets lost that game to a Curry-less Warriors team and therefore their season ended. Howard is still under contract for next season but could opt out of his contract. At least one person, Chandler Parsons of the Dallas Mavericks, believes that is exactly what he will do. Parsons was the ace recruiter who almost got DeAndre Jordan to Dallas.
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According to Pandian, there are four teams that Howard would consider moving to. Oddly, none of them are teams with superstars. Those teams are the Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, and Charlotte Hornets.
Of those teams, Portland and Charlotte are currently playoff teams though Charlotte will be looking at big turnover in its roster with the number of possible free agents. Currently Marvin Williams, Al Jefferson, Nicolas Batum, Tyler Hansbrough, Troy Daniels, Courtney Lee, and Jaime Gutierrez are all at the end of their contracts. Jeremy Lin could add to their number by opting out of the second year of his deal. This seems likely.
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Howard knows Coach Steve Clifford pretty well and his role would be pretty clear cut on the team. He would essentially take the place of Jefferson as the lone post scorer although he does not have Jefferson’s post moves. On defense he would add a shot blocker that the team has not had.
To get Howard would likely require more moves on the Hornets’ part. That would likely include re-signing Batum to serve as the hinge between Kemba Walker and Howard. Bringing back Williams and Lee would be useful, but the Hornets are planning to have Michael Kidd-Gilchrist back. Williams’ role could fall to Frank Kaminsky.
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That is perhaps the concerning thing about this playoff run. The current Hornets team is a short term thing, it is not constructed like the Carolina Panthers. To maintain it will take considerable investment and it could simply dissolve on them. Even Dwight Howard could not fix that.
Howard, for his part, just wants to be loved again. He left Orlando thinking that he wanted more than that, but found only frustration in Los Angeles and clashed with James Harden in Houston. His wish as reported by Pandian are all teams that would embrace him even if there is no guarantee of reclaiming the success from early in his career.
For now though, you should enjoy the Hornets’ run in the playoffs. It may be the only one for this cast of characters.