is Dwight Howard past his prime now?

[SCdac]

It's sad that he has damn near the same exact game as he had 10 years ago.

this

[upside24]

Would feel bad for him but he doesn't seem to take the game all that seriously. He could still be effective if he had worked on improving his skillset the last few years.

What a waste really.

[Doranku]

Seems that way. Lakers/Rockets Dwight looks like a shell of the potential MVP player that we saw in Orlando.

[COnDEMnED]

Lakers and Orlando dodged a bullet.

[bizil]

The overwhelming evidence suggests that he is.

His body is continuously breaking down, and at age 29, it is doubtful that he will ever elevate his game again.

I agree! Age wise, he should be strong in the prime of his career. Hell even at his peak. But the injuries are dictating something different. I would say Dwight is past his prime.

[Thorpesaurous]

id disagree that he is wrong for new NBA. Rim running, "dive" bigs that protect the rim and allow you to play 1 in, 4 out are perfect for new NBA

I don't disagree with this, but I'd make the same argument as Jacks in that he just hasn't really shown a willingness to be that guy. Although I will say that that is part of my argument about him being in the perfect spot, because Harden is just that good that he's almost pressed into doing it. But he wasn't happy about being that guy with Kobe.

One of the things about the current game passing him by a bit though comes on the defensive end. And I think it's something that's overlooked a little.
By allowing the zone, or the defensive three seconds, or the illegal defense grace period before blowing the whistle, or whatever you want to call it, the league has made it easier for less athletic bigs to defend. Guys can get away with being smarter about their movement. They can cheat more to the "right" spot on defense more than ever before. And it's allowed guys who are admittedly lesser athletes, to use increased size as a bigger advantage defensively. Marc Gasol. Omar Asik. Noah to a degree.

Now none of that has made Dwight any worse, but it has closed the gap he had as a defensive stalwart. When you're demanding your defenders stay out of the paint from the weakside, then a guys ability to get across the lane to the rim faster and higher than anyone else is a huge plus. But if you're just gonna let guys hang out there, then Dwight's ability to close a gap that doesn't really exist anymore really chews into his value on that end. Especially because he never seemed to pick up many other benefits from that athleticism on D. He still has mental errors more than he should. And it's not like they take advantage of his athleticism to do other weird defensive things, like run traps with him.

Although there are still a ton of metrics that show him as an absolute elite defender. It just seems like the gap has closed moreso even than his deteriorating athleticism would indicate it should have.

[Smoke117]

He's been past his prime ever since he hurt his back in ORLANDO.

Even prime Dwight was so unbelievably overrated though. Give me current Demarcus Cousins over prime Dwight 10 times out of 10.

[ihatetimthomas]

No, he's not past his prime. It's all situational. The past few years injuries had hampered him.

He wont shine like he did in Orlando because Orlando didn't feature a ball-dominate guard like Harden.

I still think he has 1-2 good years left similar to what he did in Orlando, he just needs to really stay healthy and get motivated. Those two things always have recently held him back.

I'd argue that injuries have a direct correlation to ones prime, as it will allow them a longer or shorter prime. His injuries may be the reason for his drop in production, but thats the situation he is in and that affects his prime. I do not believe he will ever be the player he was pre injuries. And that means he is out of his prime in my book.

[L.A.Showtime]

Yes, injuries ended his prime early, but he is still effective when on the court. Crazy to think his peak was 6 years ago.

[choppermagic]

He's past his prime already. Still a great player but no where near a game changer.

In fact, most casual fans will likely have little idea what he's even up to these days, showing how little conscious impact he is having on the league.

[Dragonyeuw]

His prime ended when he had the back issue, and otherwise doesn't have the skillset and fundamentals to compensate. When 50 year old Hakeem looked more fluid than Dwight in the post when they were training a few years ago, I saw then that this guy wasn't going to be anything special once he passed his physical peak. He really hasn't done anything with his game since Orlando.