The Dwight Conundrum

I don’t think people know what to make of Dwight anymore. In Atlanta, he put up a very efficient 13 points a game while controlling the boards with 4 offense rebounds a game. Those stats help a team, regardless of context. He was voted teammate of the year for Atlanta. But in the playoffs his minutes, scoring efficiency, and rebounding dropped sharply and he found himself moving to Charlotte. The Hornets wanted Dwight to play second fiddle to Kemba. He upped his scoring and turnovers, his efficiency and defense fell. His defensive FG% at the rim fell 3.3 percent. Nearly 10% more of his plays ended in post ups, which he became less efficient at. Despite a subpar playoff run, Dwight did what he could with the Hawks, it just became clear that blowing the team up was going to be the best course for the franchise and that meant clearing salary. Charlotte needed Dwight to play a significantly larger role than he could at that point in his career in order to win games. The Wizards are in neither of those positions. Washington has always had the talent on the perimeter necessary to make the ECF. Markieff Morris is an average starting PF. The scapegoats have been Gortat and the bench for the past two season’s disappointments. With the bench looking stronger than ever in the John Wall era, Dwight has the perfect post-prime opportunity to contribute to winning basketball.

Verdict

Dwight was paid and expected to perform like an All-Star on his past two teams. He produced as well as could be expected in those roles, but disappointment was inevitable. He’s not an All-Star. He’s an above-average starting center who can strengthen the rebounding and interior defense of a Washington team that’s been used to trotting out the worst starting center for a playoff team for the past two years. That’s not to say there won’t be difficulties adjusting. Dwight will likely want to post-up more than he’s able to. His switching ability will leave a lot to be desired. But to a team coming off a season where they allowed the fourth worst FG% in the paint a large, athletic rim protector and finisher looks pretty good. I think we’ll all be mildy impressed by Howard this year as he posts something along the line of 13/11 with 1.5 blocks in ~30 mpg.