The race to lure Dwight Howard has begun. With free agency officially set to begin on July 1, teams are clamoring for position in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, hoping to land the biggest center in the game. Much like we saw with LeBron James two summers ago, teams are doing anything and everything to try and put themselves in a better position to attract Howard.
—- Check out Lakers big man Dwight Howard’s player bio here! —-
One team that is hoping to land Howard is Dwight’s hometown Atlanta Hawks. After trading Joe Johnson prior to last season, Atlanta has found themselves in rebuilding mode, and is hoping Howard will be their centerpiece for the foreseeable future. One way they’re looking to do that is by enticing Howard with his former coach from Orlando, Stan Van Gundy.
According to our friends over at Sports City, the big wigs in the Hawks organization are hoping Van Gundy will help recruit Howard to Atlanta, as the two (mostly) had a good relationship in Orlando.
Van Gundy and Howard have made up from their prior disagreements as both have stated that they would like to work with each other down the road. Howard becomes a free agent July 1st and the Hawks are a potential candidate since he is from Atlanta.
The relationship between Howard and Van Gundy was rocky when the coach was fired by the Magic and Howard was on his way out of town. But the supposed reconnection between the two could benefit the Hawks if it means Stan is able to recruit Dwight to Atlanta, which is exactly what they’re hoping for. Still, whether or not Dwight is eager to get back into another situation like he had in Orlando, with the possibility of him bumping heads with Van Gundy once again, is yet to be seen.
Howard hasn’t hinted towards staying with the Lakers or leaving, simply stating that he’s going to take his time in deciding what he wants to do. Without any further information, teams will simply do whatever they think will help attract him to their franchise, which is exactly what the Hawks are seemingly doing if they hire Stan Van Gundy.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Have You Seen Our Top 5 Kobe Dunks Of The 2012-2013 Season? If not, check out our video below and don’t forget to click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
