Dwight Howard's value isn't what it used to be. The Hawks sent Howard, who has two years and $47.3 million left on his contract, to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a couple of role players, per The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski. This shouldn't be shocking after Howard complained about his role at the end of the season, but it's still a little weird to see his name involved in a deal like this -- just a few years ago, he was an MVP candidate. Let's grade the trade.
Hornets receive Dwight Howard, No. 31 pick
This could be a steal. In terms of talent, it's obvious which team "won" the trade. Charlotte was inconsistent on defense last season, and this will give coach Steve Clifford his first real rim protector since Bismack Biyombo was around, unless you count the 2016-17 version of Roy Hibbert who played 42 games for the Hornets.
Thanks to his reputation and Atlanta's overall uninspiring play, Howard was a bit underrated as a Hawk. He transformed the team's defense and the team went from an awful rebounding team to an elite one when he was on the court. There is no reason he cannot help the Hornets in those same areas. Other reasons for optimism: he has a relationship with Clifford dating back to his time as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers, and while Charlotte is taking on more salary in the short term, it will get cap relief in 2019. The jump from No. 41 to No. 31 is nice, too.
It would be crazy, though, to not acknowledge the many, many questions that come along with this. What will happen to the Hornets' offense with Howard in the fold? Will he demand touches in the post or be OK with mainly setting picks, diving to the rim and doing dirty work? What about transition defense? Is he seriously going to start shooting 3-pointers? Howard isn't exactly seen as an inspiring leader, and Charlotte is making a big bet that Clifford will be able to get the best out of him. This is not an easy job -- most ex-superstars are not as simple to manage as someone like Vince Carter, and Howard seems to believe he's still capable of being dominant if he was just put in the right situation.
This is a good situation for Howard, but I'm not sure that means he'll be dominant. The game has changed since his days as an All-NBA player, and he has lost a couple of steps athletically. If the Hornets are able to integrate him into their system successfully on both ends of the floor, then they will have done something that the Houston Rockets and the Hawks -- two pretty smart organizations -- couldn't do in the last couple of seasons.
Grade: B
Hawks receive Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli, No. 41 pick
It's not great that they had to slide down 10 picks in the draft. It's not great that Plumlee will still be making $12.5 million in 2019-20. That said, I actually like it. As great as Howard was defensively during the regular season, he actively harmed his team in the playoffs against the Washington Wizards, damaging the Hawks' spacing on offense and transition defense. He pouted when coach Mike Budenholzer elected to go small, but it's possible that Atlanta might have actually gotten out of the first round had the Hawks done that more often. After that, the Hawks were never going to get a bunch of good assets in return for him.
This makes the decision to sign Howard last summer look terrible, but part of bringing in a new front office is about not being attached to previous moves that didn't work like the organization hoped. It is new general manager Travis Schlenk's responsibility to make difficult decisions like this, and it makes a ton of sense when you consider that Howard is 31 years old and the franchise is nowhere near a contender.
Plumlee, who turns 29 in September, will not be able to anchor the defense like Howard, but he will at least play within his role as a lob target and a rebounder. He is also known for running the floor hard, which is a plus. Belinelli is likely in this deal mostly because he's on an expiring contract next season, but the former Spurs guard should fit perfectly in Budenholzer's system. The move also clears a bit of cap space this summer.
In the bigger picture, trading Howard puts Atlanta firmly in rebuilding mode, which should have been obvious the moment that Schlenk acknowledged another team could outbid the Hawks for Paul Millsap's services this summer. If Millsap leaves, then the entire starting five from the magical, 60-win 2014-15 team will be gone, leaving Schlenk's front office to assemble something from scratch. Atlanta might not finish with a .500 record this season, but it could end up being more fun to watch than the 43-win 2016-17 team. In terms of recapturing the ball movement and spread offense that defined Budenholzer's Hawks, this is addition by subtraction.
Grade: B+