Dwight Howard trade to Hornets is hilarious, quality move

Love him or hate him, Dwight Howard is the NBA’s hot potato.

Howard just got shipped to the Charlotte Hornets in an out-of-nowhere move by the Atlanta Hawks.

The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first with the news:

Sources: Charlotte is sending Miles Plumlee, Marco Belenelli and 41st pick to Atlanta for Dwight Howard and 31st pick.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 21, 2017

But this was one of the strangest, funny moves we’ve seen in a long time from the NBA.

Howard himself was hosting a Twitter rumors session with fans when news of his trade broke:

Ok Twitter Fans ,, give me your thoughts , trades or otherwise & Remember 2B-Nice 🤗 pic.twitter.com/Nl6lQFVvBN

— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) June 21, 2017

But what gets lost in the hilarity of the late move is the fact the Hornets just won big on the trade.

Not only did Charlotte give up little in the way of assets here, they just got a center who at 31 years old propped up the Hawks with 13.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while still shooting a solid 63.3 percent from the floor.

Howard looked like a great fit in Charlotte the last time he hit free agency. This still applies, as most defenses will have a hard time containing a pick-and-roll offense featuring D12 and Kemba Walker.

Granted, the Golden State Warriors and other teams have small-ball lineups looking like the future. But Charlotte clearly wants to slow the pace and beat teams in a traditional manner, hence the low-risk, funny trade for one of the best centers of his generation.