There was a time when Dwight Howard was a nightly 20 and 15 threat and was one of the most feared players in the NBA.
Those days are long gone.
Now relegated to the role of backing up JaVale McGee, Howard made his Los Angeles Lakers debut in the club's season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, and, to say the least, he didn't look very good.
He finished with three points, six rebounds and four fouls in 19 minutes, going 1-of-3 from the floor and making minimal impact on either end of the floor.
Of course, it should be noted that this was Howard's first game back since undergoing back surgery last season, the second such procedure he has undergone during his NBA career.
So, at 33 years old and coming off of a major injury, Howard's opening-night performance was not all that surprising.
This is a guy who was clearly on a steep decline even before his second back surgery, so he certainly deserves a bit of a pass for his all-around underwhelming performance on Tuesday evening.
But the question is, how much more can the Lakers actually expect from Howard?
To be fair, Los Angeles signed him to a veteran's minimum deal, so if he doesn't work out, it's not that big of a deal, but with DeMarcus Cousins being sidelined for the season, the Lakers are still expecting something out of Dwight.
You just have to wonder how much they can actually get.
Howard relies almost exclusively on his athleticism and explosiveness to be effective, as he doesn't have the array of fundamental skills that many other bigs (like Cousins, for example) possess.
The problem is, Howard looked completely bereft of that explosiveness in the season opener, and while all of the circumstances surrounding his debut have already been mentioned, I'm not sure his ceiling is much higher than what we just saw.
Obviously, Howard will never, ever reach his prime days again, and even coming close to his production during his individual years with the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets is probably out of reach.
The Lakers already have McGee and Anthony Davis up front, so their starting lineup is set, but if Howard can't give them anything off the bench, it is going to become an issue.
We already know that Howard is not someone who is going to space the floor, so he absolutely has to be able to beat his defenders to the rim on pick-and-rolls, and he was not able to do that against the Clippers.
As a matter of fact, the Clippers were able to be very physical with him whenever he attempted to sink inside off high screen-and-rolls, as he simply does not have the burst and acceleration he once did.
You probably noticed him getting knocked off of his routes relatively frequently, kind of like a wide receiver in football. This is not something we are accustomed to seeing other players (especially smaller ones like Montrezl Harrell) do to Howard, so it is concerning.
It was just one game, but I'm not sure how much Howard is physically capable of doing at this stage.
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