Dwight Howard – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Hornets trade Dwight Howard to Nets, who waive Howard

The Charlotte Hornets have acquired center Timofey Mozgov, the draft rights to Hamidou Diallo (45th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft), a 2021 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for center Dwight Howard.

According to multiple reports, the Nets will likely buy out Howard’s contract. After that, Howard may sign with the Wizards.

UPDATE: The Nets have waived Howard.

An eight-year NBA veteran, Mozgov has played in 454 career games (273 starts) for the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets with career averages of 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game. The 7-1 center was a member of Cleveland’s NBA Championship team in 2015-16. In his lone season with the Nets in 2017-18, Mozgov appeared in 31 games (13 starts) and averaged 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest.

Howard originally joined the Hornets on June 20, 2017, in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. He played in and started 81 games in Charlotte, averaging 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game.

Dwight Howard suspended due to techs

Charlotte Hornets center Dwight Howard has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul of the 2017-18 season, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during a regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that regular season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.

Howard received his most recent technical foul with 10:48 remaining in the third quarter of the Hornets’ 111-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 21 at Barclays Center. Howard will serve his suspension March 22 when the Hornets play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at Spectrum Center.

NBA trade: Hawks send Dwight Howard to Hornets

Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has acquired center Dwight Howard and the 31st overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Marco Belinelli, Miles Plumlee and the 41st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

“We are excited to add a player of Dwight’s stature to our roster,” said Cho. “He has been a very talented player, an elite rebounder and rim protector as well as a physical presence since the moment he entered the league. Howard’s best seasons came alongside Coach Steve Clifford and we believe their familiarity will make an immediate impact for the Hornets this upcoming season.”

“I’m excited about working with Dwight again,” added Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “He brings a defensive mindset, shot blocking ability and a level of physicality that will be a huge asset for us. We look forward to him continuing his career here in Charlotte.”

Howard, the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, holds career averages of 17.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 954 games played. In his 13 seasons, Howard has earned three NBA Defensive Player of the Year selections, eight All-Star appearances, eight appearances on All-NBA rosters (including five First Team All-NBA selections) and five selections to NBA All-Defensive teams.

The newly-acquired Hornets center will enter 2017-18 ranked fourth in NBA history in field goal percentage shooting 58.5% from the field, 22nd in total rebounds with 12,089 and 20th in blocks with 1,916 for his career. In each of his 13 seasons, Howard has averaged a double-double in points and rebounds, becoming only the sixth player in NBA history to do so in his first 13 seasons, along with Wilt Chamberlain, Tim Duncan, Moses Malone, Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Russell.

Among current active players, Howard ranks first in total rebounds (12,089), offensive rebounds (3,392) and blocked shots (1,916), eighth in free throws made (4,671) and 15th in total points scored (16,652).

Including a trip to the 2009 NBA Finals with Orlando, Howard has appeared in 95 postseason games in his career holding averages of 18.4 points (on 58.6% field goal shooting), 13.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

“It is extremely important for our organization that we maintain our flexibility and this trade helps us achieve that critical goal,” said Hawks General Manager and Head of Basketball Operations Travis Schlenk. “We appreciate the contributions that Dwight made on the court and in the greater Atlanta community this past season.”

In his 10th season in the NBA, Belinelli averaged 10.5 points on .429 shooting from the field while hitting .360 from three-point range and .893 from the free throw line, the ninth-best percentage in the league this season. He also averaged 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 24.0 minutes per game in 74 games played this season. His 10.5 point per game average marked the fifth time in his career that he topped double figures in scoring average.

The 6-foot-5 Italian shooting guard has career averages of 9.6 points on .425 shooting, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 644 games (216 starts). He has shot .377 from three-point range over that period. In 2014, he contributed to the San Antonio Spurs winning the NBA Championship, becoming the first Italian player to achieve that feat. He has also spent time with Golden State, Toronto, New Orleans, Chicago and Sacramento.

Plumlee, 28, has played in 273 games (133 starts) in his five-year career with Indiana, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Charlotte and posted averages of 5.1 points on .530 shooting and 4.7 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game. He appeared in 45 contests during the 2016-17 season, playing 32 games with the Bucks before joining the Hornets via trade and appearing in 13 games with Charlotte.

Dwight Howard was pulled over, had car towed after Hawks elimination

Hawks center Dwight Howard obviously had an annoying evening the night his team was eliminated from the 2017 NBA Playoffs, but what happened afterwards was even more of a struggle. Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting:

Dwight Howard pulled over, had car towed after Hawks elimination

After the Washington Wizards ended the Atlanta Hawks’ season on April 28 – beating them 115-99 in Game 6 of the playoffs – highly paid Hawks’ center Dwight Howard went for a drive.

Just a few hours after that loss, Howard was pulled over by police in Dunwoody. A few minutes later, an officer had the eight-time NBA All-Star’s car towed.

A police report states that Howard, 31, was pulled over for speeding in the wee hours of the morning on April 29. Police found that he was driving on a suspended registration and without insurance.

Rockets want some techs against Dwight Howard rescinded

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on Rockets center Dwight Howard, who is averaging a modest 14.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game this season for the 25-25 squad.

The Houston Rockets have petitioned the NBA to rescind the four technical fouls administered to center Dwight Howard in the past two games, according to a source.

Howard was ejected for picking up two technical fouls in each of the past two games. He leads the NBA with 12 technicals this season and is tied with the Clippers’ Blake Griffin with two ejections.

Howard was ejected from Saturday’s loss to the Washington Wizards for pushing Nene Hilario in the fourth quarter after they were tangled with each other. It was Howard’s second technical of the game. He picked up the first technical with 6 minutes,16 seconds to play in the opening quarter after getting fouled by Jared Dudley, who grabbed Howard in the upper body. Howard was trying to show the referees what Dudley was doing to him by putting his hands behind Dudley’s neck when he was given the technical.

Dwight Howard reportedly not seeking a trade

Here’s ESPN.com with the latest on Rockets center Dwight Howard, who may see his future in existence someplace else, but for now isn’t rocking the boat in Houston:

With the Houston Rockets struggling to get over .500, questions have begun to surface about the happiness of star center Dwight Howard.

While acknowledging Howard is unhappy with losing, sources said Howard has not expressed a desire to be traded.

Howard has a player option for next season at $23.2 million. The team expects him to become a free agent, taking advantage of a salary cap that is projected to expand from $67 million to nearly $90 million.

Kevin McHale urges Dwight Howard to get low

When you’re a big man and low-post legend Kevin McHale gives you tips, you’d be smart to listen. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:

Kevin McHale’s low-post lessons for Dwight Howard have only just begun, but the coach started close to home — his home. The dedicated Minnesota Vikings fan cited the play of All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson.

“Just staying low,” Howard said of McHale’s direction. “He always refers to Adrian Peterson and how he runs through different holes in the game. He runs real low. He was saying I have the ability to do the same thing: use my quickness and my speed to get around guys. I have to get low to be able to do it.”

McHale does have more in store.

“We’re just getting started together,” McHale said. “It’s a whole new offense for him. We’ve worked, but not as much as we will work.”

Live blogging from Magic-Raptors; Magic lead 60-47 at the half

The Orlando Magic had one of the best first quarters in NBA playoff history, but a lackluster second quarter effort has the Raptors within 13 points at the end of the first half.

The Magic led by as much as 23 in the second quarter, but finally started to miss some shots from behind the arc, just as Jason Kapono of the Raptors started to heat up.

The Magic scored 43 points in the first quarter, a team playoff record, and shot 9-for-11 behind the arc, which set an NBA record for 3’s made in the first quarter of a playoff game.

Unfortunately for Magic fans, who have definitely had in impact in the first half, the Magic managed just 17 points in the second quarter.

The Raptors appear to have weathered the Magic storm, and if Orlando can’t establish an inside game with Dwight Howard in the second half, Toronto could come back and win this game.

As for the marked advantage that Toronto was supposed to have at the point guard position, it has yet to materialize as Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling have outplayed T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon in the first half. Nelson had eight points and four assists in the first half, Dooling added eight points in just seven minutes off the bench. Ford had two points and four assists, but shot just 1-for-7 from the field. Calderon had four points and three assists.

As for my second half prediction, I expect the Magic to hold on and win by double digits.