After slipping from 60 wins and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals in 2014/15 to 48 wins and a second-round playoff ouster last season, the Hawks knew they needed an impact move.
They gave Dwight Howard $70.5MM over three years to come to Atlanta, but the early results aren’t encouraging. The Hawks slipped to 43-39 and were eliminated in the first round tonight by Washington.
More disturbing is the fact that Howard barely made an impact in the series. He averaged 26.8 minutes per night through the first five games as the Hawks increasingly leaned on a smaller lineup. He saw just 22 minutes of action in tonight’s closeout game and never left the bench in the fourth quarter.
If there’s good news for Atlanta, it’s that Howard seems to have gotten over his recent history of back issues. He appeared in 74 regular season games, averaging 13.5 points and 12.7 rebounds and giving the Hawks the interior presence they were hoping for.
The bad news is that Howard eats up a ton of cap room over the next two seasons, making $23.5MM next year and more than $23.8MM in 2018/19. All-Star forward Paul Millsap is very likely to opt out this summer. If he re-signs with Bird rights, the Hawks will have about $14MM to spend in the free agent market. If Millsap leaves, Atlanta will have to rebuild around Howard, Dennis Schroder and a very young roster.
That brings us to tonight’s question: Did Atlanta make a mistake in signing Howard? Considering the NBA’s trend toward floor spacing and away from traditional big men, could that money have been put to better use? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. We look forward to what you have to say.
The hawks need to develop a big man lineup to exploit his talents, otherwise, they’re just wasting an opportunity to build their team around a great defense anchor and future HOFer.
They kind of overpaid on Dwight.
Stretch him this summer!
The issue is that Dwight Howard isn’t that good at basketball.
Research helps Hawks brass! Maybe talking to the Lakers and Rockets could have saved you much grief and a whole lotta CAP SPACE………..
Granted they lost Horford, this made sense. I think the bigger issue with Atlanta is they have absolutely no depth to be a true contender. I think Dwight was the right signing, but it didn’t necessarily translate onto the court.