By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Normally there are only a few times where you pay an athlete in excess of $20 million when he or she is on the downside of their prime, playing for their fourth team in five years, at a position that has almost become obsolete.

Either they are the local hero ending their career in front of the hometown fans; they are the last piece to what could become a championship team; or the player has photos of the team’s General Manager in compromising situations and is blackmailing their way into a lucrative contract.

Since none of those things seem to apply to Dwight Howard being traded to the Hornets (Rich Cho does happen to live a fairly private life though), it’s a little odd that I like this trade as much as I do.

Sure, Howard is overpaid at roughly $24 million a year. But, consider the two guys he was traded for, Miles Plumlee and Marco Belinelli (both of whom are better suited to star in a remake of Perfect Strangers than be anywhere near a basketball court), were making almost $20 million combined, anyway.

Since that $20 million was already on the books, Charlotte is basically getting Howard for $4 million a year. That’s a price even Stan Van Gundy could probably get behind.

There is no doubt Dwight is not the player he used to be, but he will still be a presence on the defensive end and on the boards that the Hornets have been lacking for years.

Howard isn’t going to be asked to do too much on offense, or the shoulder the burden for 40 minutes a game. If he can stay energized and engaged on what’s going on, he’ll be a perfect for what Charlotte wants to do.

Which leads me to my last point and why I think this trade will work. Asking Howard to stay energized and engaged has been easier said than done as of late.

In fact, you could argue that the only coach he’s really given any attention and responded to was Steve Clifford when he was Howard’s big man coach in Orlando. The Charlotte head coach is one of the most respected low post coaches in the league and I have to imagine he signed off on this before Rich Cho, Hornets GM, even gave it a second thought.

If Clifford thinks Howard still has something left, I’m certainly not going to disagree with him.

Of course, after saying all that there still is one thing that I just can’t get out of mind. Atlanta, the team that always wanted Howard to come home and paid him an exuberant amount of money to finish his career with them, was finished with him after a single season. I don’t care how much of a malcontent you may be, management and fans don’t give up on someone like Howard unless the skills have really diminished or there really is more to the behind the story than we realize.

Either way, Howard is getting a fresh start (once again) and the Hornets have their low post player they hope can help return them to the playoffs. Regardless of whether this works out or not I’ve now convinced myself that there should not only be a remake of Perfect Strangers, but I’m going to sorely disappointed if Plummer and Belinelli are not in the lead roles. I think it’s something we all deserve to see.