Sixers: Pros and cons of re-signing Dwight Howard

When free agency opens up, the Sixers will have a decision to make on veteran backup center Dwight Howard. Howard would be entering his age 36 season if he plays in 2021.

Prior to Howard’s arrival, the Sixers had been looking to answer the Joel Embiid backup five question that loomed over them for years. Amir Johnson, Kyle O’Quinn, Boban Marjanovic, and Greg Monroe are just some of the names that tried to take over that responsibility for the team.

Al Horford was signed in 2019 for an absurd amount of money strictly to take pressure off of Embiid for the most part. It’s safe to say that it didn’t work out like either side intended.

Howard was easily the best backup center option that the Sixers had in the Embiid era. Despite coming with some of his own play style baggage, he worked about as effectively as he did for the Lakers in their title run.

PRO to Sixers re-signing Dwight Howard: Solid regular season

You can probably tell the con that this will be followed up with on the next slide, but both things are true. Starting with the regular season first, Howard was an exemplary backup. His Lakers tenure showed that he was willing to accept a smaller role that involved fewer post-up touches and more gritty play in the paint.

Per 36 minutes, Howard averaged 17.5 rebounds with the Sixers in 2020. That was the highest of his career in addition to a defensive rating that was better than most previous Sixers’ backup centers. Some will counter that by also saying his personal fouls were also the highest of his career per 36 minutes. While that’s true, his fouls didn’t adversely affect the team in the regular season on most nights.

Howard was also a pretty functional backup whenever Embiid had to sit out. The March stretch with him and Tony Bradley playing significant minutes following Embiid’s bone bruise was pretty positive. It kept the team afloat in the conversation for the one-seed and doesn’t get talked about enough.

CON to Sixers re-signing Dwight Howard: Bad (maybe unplayable) in the postseason

While Howard minutes worked for their purpose in the regular season, they were pretty close to disastrous in the playoffs. Howard had the second lowest 2021 playoffs +/- with only Matisse Thybulle being ranked lower.

Doc Rivers’ rotations deserve some of the blame. Howard either had to play with Ben Simmons/Thybulle or all-bench lineups that hurt him in terms of spacing. At the same time, he is part of the reason that spacing doesn’t work. The constant fouling and lack of touch around the rim is magnified come playoff time. Simmons and Thybulle could still be on the team next year as well.

The offensive rating of Simmons-Howard offensive lineups was just 89.6 during this year’s playoffs.

Another sign of this not being just a Sixers-based issue is what happened in Los Angeles during the 2020 playoffs. Prior to Game 6 of the Heat-Lakers finals, Frank Vogel benched Dwight Howard in favor of more Alex Caruso minutes:

Howard is ultimately going to get paid the minimum or very close to it if he does return to Philadelphia, so value isn’t necessarily a concern. There’s room for a third-string center. However, I imagine that there will be teams that still offer Howard the same backup center role that the Sixers and Lakers have the last two seasons.

If he does return, the Sixers would have to define from the outset what the exact situation is with his minutes come playoff time. One could argue that figuring that out is more hassle than it’s worth.

PRO to Sixers re-signing Dwight Howard: Veteran presence and charisma

This might sound stupid on it’s face, but I don’t think the energy that Howard brought to the 2020 Sixers can be easily discounted. Frosty freezeouts and pregame vibes made it clear that the team enjoyed having the veteran journeyman there. Despite Howard problematically burning out with other teams as a locker room cancer in the past, he fixed that in a big way 2019 and 2020.

I get it. It sounds sentimental and dumb. But think back to the NBA bubble and the 2019 season with Al Horford. The lasting images of that nightmare season might be Al Horford disconnected from everything at the top of the key and the Shake Milton/Embiid shouting match in the bubble.

Since the Sixers likely won’t have to pay more than the vet minimum to retain Howard, that may be a good enough reason to keep him. Despite the playoff struggles, he can be a contributor over an 82-game season while Philadelphia figures out the playoff non-Embiid minutes via another solution.

One thing that would have to almost certainly become a thing of the past if the Sixers do bring him back is playoff all-bench lineups. They also can’t have multiple non-shooters on the floor with Howard at the same time.

CON to Sixers re-signing Dwight Howard: Stifling the development of Paul Reed

The “Bball Paul” moniker has become a bit of a meme amongst Sixers fans, but Paul Reed showed some serious flashes last season. Reed won G-League MVP in addition to G-League Rookie of the Year before being called up to the Sixers.

In college, Reed had shown some ability to play quality defense with a bit of a wonky offensive style. This was on full display during Reed victory cigar minutes during the season:

Reed is versatile enough to not just be relegated to the small-ball five role, but it’s probably his best spot for now. Backup stretch four minutes can be another possibility, yet that goes back to Howard being suboptimal in terms of fit for that.

With Reed being a possible trade chip, no one knows if he’ll end up here for the duration of his contract. That being said, it’s clear that Daryl Morey does value him from the draft (plus the conversion of his two-way contract so quickly).

The backup four and five spots being open provide a chance for Reed to grow his game in a significant way. With Howard still on the team for 2021, only the stretch four would be a real possibility.