People realize that Howard complained to the media about his lack of touches in Orlando, LA, Houston and Atlanta, right?
Yet he’ll be just fine as a 5th option here?
If we're operating under the hypothetical that he signs here for the vet min, that means he's passing on places that would pay him more money and give him more touches. That would say something to me about how he feels about the need to get touches. Also, if he signs here for any amount of money I would trust that Danny and Brad have taken long hard looks into gauging how he'll fit in.
So under this hypothetical, no I wouldn't be upset. We've brought in lots of players before like Shaq, Sheed, Kris Humphries, KG, Darko Milicic, Sam Cassell, Stephon Marbury... some of them being older vets who you couldn't imagine settling for fewer touches/lesser role and some of them having very questionable attitudes. Some of them worked out just fine, some didn't work out at all, but none of them you look back at like "Man, I can't believe we signed that guy for the vet min, he destroyed our entire team".
I disagree with the first part of your thought process. It's just putting the most positive, optimistic spin on the circumstance.
Carmelo Anthony waived his NTC to go to OKC, that means he was ready to take on a lesser role and be a team player.
Allen Iverson signed a contract with Memphis, that means he was willing to come off the bench and be a team player.
Larry Sanders signed a minimum contract with Cleveland to come out of retirement, that shows he seriously wants to play basketball again.
Darko Milicic singed a minimum contract with Boston, that means he's willing to come off the bench and accept a backup role.
If Dwight was willing to accept a vet minimum contract from the C's, it just means the teams he wants to play aren't offering him more money. It doesn't mean he's turned over a new leaf or will be happy with less touches/being less involved.
Even if he explicitly says he'd be happy with a reduced role, it doesn't make it true. Players spew that team-first-I-just-want-to-win lip service all the time, when you know it's more often than not a lie. Iverson and Darko said they were willing to be backups and didn't last a week.