Dwight Opts out of $23.2 Million....

[crimson_stallion]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

[Dino Pitino]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

A guy who joined the Rockets to learn from Kevin McHale and Hakeem the Dream, and proceeded to fail to develop a single low post move while his athleticism declined.

Ouch.

[meangreenmachine]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

This. Furthermore, Howard is an historically great rebounder and one of the best defensive big man ever. If he can maintain his health, I think we're a 55+ win team with Howard. He is probably our most likely path towards contending next year. I'd like to see Howard jam up James in the paint.  Let's not forget that Houston was in the WCF just over a year ago.

[nostar]

I would love Howard's production on the Celtics.
I would hate Howard's personality on the Celtics.

Other competitive players don't like him. Durant, Harden, even LaMarcus Aldridge have basically called him a clown.

Neither Kobe nor KG could put up with him, and while that might be a high bar, it's telling about his level of competitiveness.

So yeah count me out of the DH12 sweepstakes.

[LilRip]

Makes sense. I think every player would opt out of Houston if they could. I'd imagine playing next to James Harden is pretty terrible.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

I think there's a distinction between number of touches and type of touches. Dwight's never had the post skills so that his teammates could routinely give him the ball in the post and let him go to work, á la McHale, Malone, etc. Dwight is most effective, and has generally done most of his offensive damage, on alley-oops and putbacks.

So I don't think the situation is as simple as calling more plays for Dwight, because he doesn't have the skill set to do much with those deliberate touches.

[MBunge]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

I think there's a distinction between number of touches and type of touches. Dwight's never had the post skills so that his teammates could routinely give him the ball in the post and let him go to work, á la McHale, Malone, etc. Dwight is most effective, and has generally done most of his offensive damage, on alley-oops and putbacks.

So I don't think the situation is as simple as calling more plays for Dwight, because he doesn't have the skill set to do much with those deliberate touches.

Dwight is never going to be another Olajuwon and force teams to double him or he'll drop 35 or 40 on you.  But Howard still in against single coverage against most centers in the league.

Mike

[Vermont Green]

Dwight probably believes he deserves big money so I will guess 3 years/$75M is what it would take.

If we let Amir Johnson and Jerebko go, that is $19M so it is kind of like trading Jerebko and Johnson for Dwight.  It is tough, that is a lot of money for a athletically gifted but immature clown but I think i do that trade.

Unfortunately, he can probably get more than this ($ or time) from someone.

[Surferdad]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

I think there's a distinction between number of touches and type of touches. Dwight's never had the post skills so that his teammates could routinely give him the ball in the post and let him go to work, á la McHale, Malone, etc. Dwight is most effective, and has generally done most of his offensive damage, on alley-oops and putbacks.

So I don't think the situation is as simple as calling more plays for Dwight, because he doesn't have the skill set to do much with those deliberate touches.

In essence, you have to build your offense around Howard and that won't work if he doesn't have a better post game, and the coach who is willing to implement it. Kind of old school in today's NBA....

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'll give him 16 per. Done.

Yeah. $30mil for a guy who can't shoot outside the restricted area but cries about his number of touches? No, thanks.

Dwight Howard has scored more points per field goal attempt over his career then perhaps any other player in NBA history, and yet he averaged only 9.5 FGA per 36 minutes in Houston last year.

Do you understand how ridiculously stupid that is on Houston's part?

To put this into perspective, Jared Sullinger averaged 15.2 FGA Per 36 Minutes last year for Boston.  That's 60% more attempts then Dwight got in Houston.

* Anthony Davis averaged 1.31 Pts Per FGA this year
* Lebron James averaged  1.36 Pts Per FGA this year
* Steph Curry averaged 1.49 Pts Per FGA this year

Dwight Howard's career low was 1.45 Pts Per FGA which he averaged in his rookie year-   

His career average is 1.62 Pts Per FGA, and this season he was right on that mark at 1.61 Pts Per FGA.

Lets put this further into perspective.  James Harden averaged 19.7 Field Goal Attempts this year and averaged 29 PPG, leading to a scoring efficiency of 1.47 Points Per FGA.

If you gave Dwight Howard 19.7 FGA at his current scoring rate of 1.62 Pts Per FGA, he would theoretically average 31.7 PPG.

If you give Dwight Howard even just a minuscule 10 FGA per game (which is what Sully averaged for us this year) then he'd be giving you 16.1 PPG at his current scoring rate.

If you gave him 14.5 FGA per game (what Avery Bradley took this year) then at his current rate of scoring he'd average 23.3 PPG.

Even if you gave him 14 FGA per game, at the lowest scorign rate of his entire career (1.45 in his rookie year) he'd still be averaging 20 PPG.

So looking at all of this data there is one thing that is blatantly obvious and cannot be disputed - if you give Dwight touches, he's going to score.  This isn't a maybe, this is a certainty.  It's been proven because he has done it every single season he's been in the league. 

So now given all of the above, tell me why Dwight Howard shouldn't be asking for more touches? Give him 12+ shot attempts a night and you can lock him down for an incredibly efficient 19 points / 12 rebounds a night.

I think there's a distinction between number of touches and type of touches. Dwight's never had the post skills so that his teammates could routinely give him the ball in the post and let him go to work, á la McHale, Malone, etc. Dwight is most effective, and has generally done most of his offensive damage, on alley-oops and putbacks.

So I don't think the situation is as simple as calling more plays for Dwight, because he doesn't have the skill set to do much with those deliberate touches.

In essence, you have to build your offense around Howard and that won't work if he doesn't have a better post game, and the coach who is willing to implement it. Kind of old school in today's NBA....

Definitely old school, but it can work if you have a true post player. I'm sure Dwight could manage to steamroll a few guys, but I don't think dumping the ball into him regularly is a recipe for sustained success.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

This will be Howard's 4th team and every previous team he's been on he's had issues with other star players (Kobe, Harden) or even worse, coaches (Stan Van Gundy). At some point you have to realize it's the player, not the teams, and no matter where he goes he's going to have problems.

[manl_lui]

This will be Howard's 4th team and every previous team he's been on he's had issues with other star players (Kobe, Harden) or even worse, coaches (Stan Van Gundy). At some point you have to realize it's the player, not the teams, and no matter where he goes he's going to have problems.

I think that is a very fair argument,

Not that I am defending Howard or anything, the Lakers didn't do so hot the next season after Dwight left, and Harden isn't exactly the best teammate to play with

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2590764-james-hardens-style-of-play-personality-reportedly-frustrating-rockets-players

Although I have to say, Dwight deserves some blame too but he is definitely a talent. I would take a risk on him for the right price. He is an instant upgrade over all our bigs. In no way would I throw a max at him though

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

This will be Howard's 4th team and every previous team he's been on he's had issues with other star players (Kobe, Harden) or even worse, coaches (Stan Van Gundy). At some point you have to realize it's the player, not the teams, and no matter where he goes he's going to have problems.

This is another big reason I want no part of Howard.