Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard gained a reputation for selfishness thanks to his wishy-washy divorce from the Orlando Magic, followed by his pouting as a Los Angeles Laker, but Howard has recently said he would be open to a very selfless move.
Howard, the best center in the league in the minds of many, has said he's willing to play power forward to accommodate new teammate Omer Asik, and not block his path to time on the court.
The admission is surprising from Howard, who rebelled against Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni's system that placed him in lots of pick and roll situations. Howard's insistence on post touches also affected the Lakers' ability to use Pau Gasol, who was pushed out to the perimeter and had one of the worst seasons of his career.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey confirmed talk that the team will experiment with Howard at power forward and Asik at center, telling media "Coach (Kevin) McHale plans to experiment with Dwight at (power forward) and Omer as (center) in training camp."
"I think it can make our team tougher," Howard said. "We need (me playing) as a power forward some games and Asik being a center. We will have a big lineup, and it will be tough for teams to truly score."
Both Howard and Asik are dominant rim protectors and post defenders, although a lineup featuring twin centers runs contrary to what made Houston successful last season, an up-tempo style that relied on 3-point launching from James Harden and Chandler Parsons.
Upon acquiring Howard, Asik reportedly asked Houston to trade him. He and Howard are both natural centers and the Rockets didn't pay Howard maximum money to back up Asik. In a recent Q&A session Morey addressed the Asik issue-- "Omer would prefer to be a starter and is certainly a starter-plus quality player. That said, he is a winner first & likes being on a winning team."
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