Dwight Howard will have a fresh start now that he's a member of the Houston Rockets, and head coach Kevin McHale is going to make it his mission to make sure Howard lives up to his full potential.
"My job is to put him into positions to succeed. That should be easy," McHale said. "I told him if he's not dominating at both ends of the floor in the paint, I'm not doing a good enough job getting him to play to his potential."
Howard made it official Saturday after signing a four-year deal to join the Rockets. Though he played in only 76 of 82 regular-season games with the Lakers last year, he was coming off one his most frustrating seasons. He was plagued with back and shoulder injuries while the Lakers struggled and barely made the playoffs.
Howard had his lowest rebounding average since 2007 and his lowest scoring average since 2006.
However, for now Howard looks to keep last season in the past and looks forward to the future with the Rockets after giving his explanation for not returning to the Lakers.
"I just looked at both teams and I felt like Houston was going in one direction -- they got a lot of young players, they got a good coach in Kevin McHale and I just felt like having him as a coach, he could really help me in the post and help me develop like I want to," Howard said in an interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com. "That was mainly the big reason right there, and having the opportunity to grow with a team, a young team, like the Rockets. That's the reason why [I decided to leave]."
Howard added:
"It was tough," Howard said of leaving Los Angeles. "I enjoyed, for the most part, living here in L.A. I just really think the timing in L.A., it wasn't right for me. Maybe two years ago, or 2-3 years from now, it would have been the right time. But I just think right now the timing was off for me. That's not saying that L.A. is a bad place, but I just think it's all about timing and fit when you're talking about basketball. You can put anybody together on the court and expect them to win, but the pieces have to really fit in order for a team to be successful and it was very, very tough, man. It's probably one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make in my life."
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