Philadelphia 76ers: Dwight Howard is an absolute revelation

Dwight Howard looks ‘Super’ in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform.

Dwight Howard shouldn’t be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers right now.

No, Howard should be a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played last season and won a championship coming off the bench. Howard reportedly loved his time with the team, and at 35-years-old, had fully embraced taking on an auxiliary role playing alongside genuine superstars. Had the Lakers actually offered him a veteran minimum deal, Howard’s retrospectively awkward – and since-deleted – tweet announcing his return to the team would likely still exist on his timeline, and a purple and gold jersey would just as likely still be sitting in his locker.

Fortunately for fans of the City of Brotherly Love, that didn’t happen.

More from Section 215

No, the Lakers got cold feet when reigning Six-Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell became available and opted to lock up the 26-year-old big man over their eight-time All-Star backup center. This allowed Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers to swoop in and convince Howard to reunite with Daryl Morey, and for what it’s worth, the man affectionately known as ‘Superman’ agreed – signing a one-year veteran minimum deal to play for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020-21.

Now on paper, there’s very little downside to this move. While Howard isn’t the player he once was, he remains a statistically impressive two-way player capable of providing energy on both ends of the court and cleaning up his teammates’ mistakes. In 2019-20, Howard averaged 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while playing a little less than 19 minutes a night. If he can just replicate those numbers in a Sixers uniform, it would go a long way with replacing Al Horford‘s production and give the team a viable second center to soak up the remaining minutes when Embiid is off the court.

But playing second banana to Embiid isn’t the only reason Howard was brought to town. No, a big reason why the Sixers have prioritized backup bigs as much as they have is Embiid’s health and inconsistent attendance. Simply put, Embiid is going to miss games, and the Sixers need a plan to remain competitive in those contests.

Fortunately, fans got a look at Howard in the starting lineup in the Sixers’ second and final preseason game of 2020. With Embiid out with a stomach bug, Howard played 16 minutes, mostly alongside the team’s starting five of Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Danny Green, and Tobias Harris. Though Howard wasn’t perfect, as he committed four personal fouls due to near-constant back and forth brawling with Domantas Sabonis, Doc Rivers’ offense ticked along without skipping a beat, which is more than anyone can say about last season’s Embiid-less contests. Howard finished out the game with 14 points and four rebounds on a perfect 7-7 on shots from the field – his best stat line since January 13th.

Could Howard maintain this clip over a full 82- or in 2020-21’s case, 72 – game season? Eh, probably not. But for, say, 15ish games a year? Oh yeah, I think ‘Superman’ can still fly.

Watch Danny Green dish on James Harden, the NBA. dark. Next

When the Philadelphia 76ers invested $109 million into Al Horford, it was to fill a dual role as the team’s starting forward and backup center. while some will defend that decision to the grave, it’s clear Anna‘s brother never really fit either role and will ultimately go down as one of the franchise’s biggest free agency misses. Dwight Howard, by contrast, is perfectly suited for a reserve center role at this point in his career, and for roughly one/fiftieth of Horford’s salary, he may be an even more important player. Hmmm… I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned here?