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One of the most heavily criticized players in fantasy basketball in recent seasons has been C Dwight Howard. People love to harp on the fact that he has a career 57.4% free throw percentage and they use it as an excuse to avoid the veteran big man in fantasy drafts, but the veteran can still be a very valuable fantasy option.
Now with the Houston Rockets, Howard has actually posted some staggering rebound totals this season. Howard is grabbing a very healthy 12.5 rebounds, which is currently fourth in the NBA. Ironically, Howard’s rebounding total this season has been slightly higher than the 12.4 boards he averaged last season, which was tops in the league. It is hard to argue when a player actually grabs more rebounds than the previous year.
On top of the double-digit boards, Howard is also blocking 1.8 shots per game. There are plenty of big men that can grab 10-plus boards per game, but not all of them can reliably block shots. The fact that Howard is consistently rejecting shots on top of his work on the glass has once again made him an All-Star fantasy option. The critics can say all they want, but 12 boards and two blocks per game puts Howard in elite company among fantasy’s big men.
As expected, Howard is struggling from the charity stripe this year and is hitting a meager 52.3 % of his free throws. Regardless of his poor free throw percentage, though, Howard is still doing exactly what he was drafted to do. He may not be posting the 20-20 games he was back in Orlando, but he is steadily grabbing over 10 boards each game to go along with a couple highlight worthy blocks.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
