Dwight Howard plans to hire a shooting coach who will help him improve his midrange game and his accuracy at the free-throw line, where he is a career 59.8 percent shooter in the regular season.

"We're in the market right now for the best," said Howard's manager, Kevin Samples.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, NBA TVanalysts Chris Webber and Kevin McHale said independent shooting coaches aren't necessarily cure-alls.

But McHale, the Houston Rockets' new head coach, praised Howard for wanting to improve.

"I thought that Dwight's shot has improved a great deal the last couple of years," McHale said. "It's repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition. And, hopefully, he gets with a guy that's going to get him shooting the same shot every single time. If there's one thing about Dwight that I've noticed, it's that his release point changes a great deal."