The Atlanta Hawks have a steady cast of solid players, but it's difficult to predict where they will land when the dust settles. Losing Jeff Teague and Al Horford, but gaining Dwight Howard at center makes them an intriguing mystery.

Howard can be a big help to the Hawks this season, but for now remains a question mark. He wants a bigger role in his team's offense, but he needs to understand his limitations. Schroder can run the pick and roll with him effectively, but will he buy in with his new teammate? Dwight is one of the league's top rebounders, but he needs to commit to both that and protecting the paint. If he is willing to doing what's best for the team, he can give the Hawks a boost.

The new Hawks center spoke with Tim McMahon of ESPN and said he looked for changes on the court, so he changed things around him away from the court first.

“Just things off the court, a lot of the stuff that was happening around me, just personal things. I tried to change that up and just really start over, get a clean slate. No offense to the people that I had around me, but I just wanted to start over, start fresh. Like I said, it’s a new beginning, so I wanted everything to be fresh. I didn’t want to bring any old baggage or anything from my past to this organization. They believe in me, this city believes in me, so I just wanted to make sure that when I’m out there on the court that I’m free, that I can give this city and this team everything that I’ve got.”

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That sounds like all of the right things, but it won't mean anything until Howard shows he's serious with his actions.

Controversy and disappointments have happened often enough that Howard has something to prove again. If coach Mike Budenholzer can get through to his big man, and get him to play to his strengths, the team will excel in the Eastern Conference. But we all need to see it – the skepticism around Howard is justified.

Skeptics will be watching along with the rest of us, but if Howard can reclaim some of his former Magic mojo, the Hawks will a fun team to watch.

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