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Eh, I'm never going to go to bat for Dwight Howard. Apart from being just a weird dude and by many accounts a lousy teammate, he just wasn't a skilled player.
This isn't Shaq here who had a variety of low-post moves he could go to. And he didn't even play during the 'no zone defense' years like Shaq did in his prime. He was out there just being a big body allowed to hover in the defensive zone and alter shots or set up for rebounds. And when he was putting up big rebound numbers he was on an undersized team that just cleared out and let him scoop them all up.
He was a more chiseled version of Horace Grant. He is a put-back player on offense with no handles, no passing ability and no real moves to speak of. On defense he played in an era that made it awfully easy for him as space/pace hadn't come into vogue yet and big guys could go into zone shells to keep their miles down.
He was never a key contributor (even a top 5 option) on a championship team. While he made the finals that one year in Orlando, he also took 3 pretty lousy 1st round losses including 2 during what would have been his peak years.
So many people have gotten onto 'Dwight Howard was underrated' train that he's become overrated. Yes, we're early in AD's career but just cutting it off through their respective age 28 seasons, Davis has been more accomplished, far more productive and versatile on offense and a comparable defensive player in an era where it's harder for big men to make a defensive impact.
I really don't have a problem with it, especially when you know they try to make these with an eye on the future. By age 29 Dwight Howard had effectively become an NBA journeyman who was well on his way to a bench role. I think it's fair to believe that Davis will age far better than that.
In five years I don't think this will be any kind of discussion at all, and that's presuming that it should be right this very minute.
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