The Cleveland Cavaliers should target Dwight Howard ASAP

Lately, it’s clear to every NBA fan that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been struggling. What might not be clear — they need Dwight Howard.

After stumbling to the fourth seed in the relatively weak Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers followed up a disappointing regular season with a seven-game first round series against a young and inexperienced Indiana Pacers team.

Now, after bum-rushing the mentally weak Toronto Raptors, the Cavaliers have struggled in the Eastern Conference Finals against a superstar-less Boston Celtics team, trailing the series 2-0 before tying the series 2-2 on Monday.

Of course, nothing is over until a team gets four wins but all is not well in Cleveland.

So what do the Cleveland Cavaliers actually need right now?

A superstar? A backup star? Good role players?

No.

They have all of those already.

What the Cavs so desperately need is a force in the paint. Someone that can make opponents think twice before attacking the paint.

The Cavaliers currently allow opponents to score the fourth-highest amount of points in the paint in the postseason (48.1) and allowed 47.0 points in the paint per game in the regular season, the ninth-highest amount in the league.

This is an issue that needs to be resolved immediately.

While Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was linked to the Cavaliers in the regular season, there may be no better force in the paint than Dwight Howard, a veteran with countless accolades and plenty of playoff experience, as Cavs leader LeBron James knows.

Just when everybody thought Howard was exiting his prime really fast, he quieted the critics, having a great season and proving he is still a top-class center.

Last season, Howard averaged 16.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game (81 games).

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Most coaches desire players with Howard’s defensive ability. Players that can make opponents shoot countless threes, forcing them into one-dimensionality, as they’re too afraid of attacking the paint.

Even though the NBA has changed and teams are now shooting more and more three-pointers, converting two around the rim is something that’s in every player’s skillset, so defending the paint is the best way to stop players from getting “easy” points.

So in what way will The Superman change the Cavs and their style of play?

Defensively, the addition of Dwight allows the Cleveland Cavaliers to fulfill a much-wanted wish: adding a real center. Right now the Cavaliers are letting their opponents shoot 46.7 percent from the field in the postseason (sixth-highest percentage) and allowed them to shoot 47.4 percent from the field in the regular season (third-highest percentage).

Howard could help shape that up by holding opposing players to a lower field goal percentage in the paint.

For example, Pacers big man Myles Turner shot a remarkable 85.0 percent in the restricted area against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, mainly because undersized big men Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson couldn’t stop him.

Offensively, Dwight could do two things for the offensive flow of the team. Firstly, he could space the floor, as Dwight tends to spend most of his time in the paint or around it and will draw defenders away from the perimeter.

Secondly, players like Jeff Green can spend more time around the three-point line and less time worrying about boxing out other big men. To that point, Howard could contribute by grabbing a number of offensive rebounds. During the 2017-2018 NBA season, Superman ranked 5th among the best offensive rebounders in the league with 255 total offensive boards, making him a valuable addition to every team.

He would certainly be valuable to a Cleveland Cavaliers team that ranks among the worst teams in the NBA when it comes to second chance scoring, tallying just 10.4 points per game in the postseason (13th out of 16 teams) and 11.2 points per game in the regular season (26th out of 30 teams).

With the Cleveland Cavaliers officially selecting with the 8th pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, the hopes of getting a top-class big man seem to be fading away. As a result, GM Koby Altman will most likely turn to some of the guards that are projected to be picked around pick No. 8, like Trae Young, Collin Sexton or Mikal Bridges.

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Consequently, a new big man is wanted in Cleveland. A position that NBA veteran Dwight Howard would fit perfectly.

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com and stats.nba.com