Dwight Howard doesn't want to be considered a dinosaur -- he's changing his game.
The 6-foot-11 Atlanta Hawks center isn't content being a pick-and-roll, lob-catching big man anymore. He sees where the game has headed, and isn't going to fall behind other centers in the league.
That's right, Dwight Howard is going to start shooting 3-pointers. Here's what he told ESPN's Rachel Nichols on "The Jump" on Tuesday:
"I've been working on my 3s, really trying to add some range to my game," Howard said. "Which is going to be weird for people to see, I guess.
"They are used to seeing me in the paint battling. But in order for me to play longer, I have to expand my game. The game is not just back to the basket, get the ball in the post and go to work. It's more stepping away from the basket, setting screens, popping, shooting 3's and stuff like that. People haven't seen me do that. It's going to be an adjustment for me, but also the fans. I think it's going to be fun."
OK wow, so this isn't a joke. Hmmm.
So, Dwight's not wrong. We've recently seen big men like DeMarcus Cousins, Al Horford, Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol extend their range to the 3-point line, and it can certainly add years to a center's career. The difference is, those guys actually made shots consistently beyond 12 feet before backing up to beyond the arc.
Here's a look at Dwight Howard's shot chart from last season:
Yeah, not too much green outside the paint.
According to Basketball Reference, Howard shot just 23 percent (21 of 92) on jump shots last season. Granted many of those jumpers were probably end-of-shot clock situations, but it's still a huge leap to go from shooting 23 percent on jump shots to making 3s consistently. He's also a notoriously awful free throw shooter, so it's hard to imagine that shooting mechanics that don't work from 15 feet will suddenly start to work from 24 feet.
Howard has talked before about expanding his range to no avail (as you can see, he shot just two 3-pointers all of last year), so it will be interesting to see if he actually follows through and starts hoisting from deep next season.
