In a surprisingly swift free agency process, Dwight Howard agreed to sign a three-year, $70.5 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Howard returns to his hometown as a humbled former superstar who just turned 30.

If you squint hard enough and it’s his right day physically, you can sometimes see the dominant force Howard was during his peak with the Orlando Magic carrying a bad defensive team to 50+ wins every year and even to The Finals in 2009.

For one year when LeBron James was figuring out his fit with the Heat and Kobe Bryant began to decline, Howard was the best player in the NBA and should have won the MVP that went to Derrick Rose. At that point, you could make a credible argument Howard was the safer, even better option to build a team around than either LeBron or Kevin Durant. The decline from that position to now five years later has been rapid and at times shocking.

Howard’s mission in basketball seemed to be first and foremost about #hisbrand, but also that winning a title was the way to build it. For the relentless absurdity of his personality, Howard was always sincere on both of the prior counts and signing with the Rockets in 2013 to partner with James Harden and a GM in Daryl Morey that had crafted his reputation upon identifying and developing rotation players was undeniably the smart move.

Despite an appearance in the Western Conference Finals in Year 2, the three years with the Rockets were a failed exercise for all involved. Year 1 ended with Damian Lillard hitting a classic buzzer beater over Chandler Parsons and Year 3 ended with general apathy. At various points in-between, Howard and Harden tried to get the other one traded. Harden became one of the NBA’s best offensive talents while Howard tangibly declined and never fit in. 

Howard’s physical decline and his deficiency of mental maturity are equally disconcerting. Howard has always wanted a bigger role on offense beyond rim runs and those wishes have gone unrequited by first Kobe Bryant and then Harden, and rightly so with what has been inefficient self-created scoring. Howard even admitted to being disengaged with his limited role on offense this season. Howard almost certainly was leaving in free agency and the decision to hire Mike D'Antoni sealed it.

Howard’s post game began to come together during his final seasons with the Magic but that’s been the part of his game perhaps most impacted by injuries. Howard scored under 0.8 points per possession in the post, which is dreadful offense. Howard did rank 21st in True Shooting Percentage at .604 despite his continued struggles at the free throw line. Howard shot nearly 70 percent within five feet of the bucket. 

Howard ranked a dreadful 43rd amongst centers in Real Plus Minus, but Houston was 1.2 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Howard. 

The Hawks are signing Howard at a strange point in his career and also in their evolution. Atlanta ranked second in the NBA in defense last season and they have the capacity of being even better with Howard, especially on the defensive glass. The Hawks’ offense, however, built on ball movement and spacing, fell from 6th to 22nd this past season. 

It is hard to judge this signing for the Hawks because there are so many remaining unknowns. Who remains on the Hawks next season out of Al Horford, Kent Bazemore and Paul Millsap? The Hawks likely will move on from Horford, who is commanding max money and wants a fifth year to re-sign with Atlanta. Howard on a three-year, $70.5 million deal is an infinitely wiser move than Howard on a five-year max. While Millsap and Horford are good enough shooters to make a frontcourt with Howard conceivable, there is a lack of quickness that smallball units could exploit.

For all of the Hawks' attempts at becoming San Antonio East stylistically, it has felt like they're making it up as they go in terms of roster construction. Signing Howard feels like another such move even if it could work out exceptionally well if they can augment his contributions on offense and he's the defensive, physical force he once was and sometimes still remains.

Grade for Hawks: Incomplete (B- assuming Horford leaves and Bazemore is re-signed)

The real revenge for the Dwightmare® 2012-2013 is the utmost apathy his 2016 free agency provoked. Howard signed quickly and for significantly less than his available max with an annual average value of $23.5 million.

Howard always expected to hit free agency again in 2016 when he signed with the Rockets in 2013 but it was inconceivable at the time that he would be signing for only three seasons and for anything less than the max. 

When Howard became available in trade talks and then in free agency, he seemed to not be interested in returning home to Atlanta. After what he’s been through, Howard has the chance to have a return to form at home, which would be more meaningful than as a mercenary with a franchise in a town he has no connection to. Howard has so clearly just wanted to be loved and sometimes that comes across as him being goofy, but he has a tremendous work ethic and is a likable teammate for most personalities. He’s cost himself a lot of money but Howard made a mature and interesting decision in signing with Atlanta.

Grade for Dwight Howard: C

The Rockets seemed to have the formula of a pair of top-10 players when they traded for Harden in 2012 and then signed Howard in 2013. Houston seemed like perennial title contenders alongside the Thunder. The Rockets were unable to get the right mix of role players around Harden and Howard while the pair of stars never bought into the other. It could have been a special run, particularly if Chris Bosh would have signed in 2014 since he could have been the necessary veteran intermediary between Harden and Howard in the locker room, plus he would have made the team more coherent with his floor spacing at the 4.

Houston moves on from Howard with Clint Capela at center still with Harden, but with a roster full of uncertainty beyond those two. Harden and Howard came together in the rarest of ways in the middle of their primes from other teams and Morey certainly must rue the quick end three years later.

Grade for Rockets: D+