| The Future Of The Mavericks Authored by Jonathan Wall - March 2, 2005 - 5:26 pm
It was June 26th, 2003 and there he was, sitting there in his suit with some of the top players at the NBA Draft, getting ready for everything in his life to change.
Sure Josh Howard was nervous, but he figured that ACC Player of the Year and All-American would stick out to the scouts and GM’s on draft day – he was wrong.
Twenty-nine picks later Howard’s name was finally called as the Mavericks selected him with the last pick in the first round – a real shot in the mouth for a player who was projected to go mid-round. Names like Boris Diaw, Nick Collison, Marcus Banks and Dahntay Jones went ahead of Howard in the draft, but it wasn’t a big deal for Howard, who was known to be the type of person who looked towards the future.
“I’m just lucky to have the opportunity,” Howard said. “I just want to get into camp and show them what I’ve got.”
Howard has done that and much more.
In his first season in the NBA, Josh Howard played the role of the seventh man, always ready to go in and willing to crash the board for the rebound. He ended up with averaging almost 9 points and 5 boards a game for one of the top scoring teams in the league, but that wasn’t enough for Josh.
A star back at Wake; Josh has proven to everyone that he can also be a star on the NBA hardwood. Through the first half of his second season in the league, Howard has gone from relative unknown, to one of the top all-around young players in the league. One NBA General Manager was quoted as saying that he now regrets not taking Howard in the first round. And now here is, averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal a game for one of the top teams in the league.
“He always plays tough defense and gets after the ball,” Mavericks head coach Don Nelson said. “He continues to improve all facets of his game in the practice gym on a daily basis.”
Once considered just another gangly swingman in the league; Howard packed on the muscle in the off-season and worked hard on his game. The work has paid off as Howard averages 33 minutes per game, and is counted on to guard the team’s top player every night.
“He definitely has the moves and the skills of a young Scottie Pippen,” said one NBA GM who wished to remain anonymous. “The sky is literally the limit for him, so long as he continues to work on his game and play that hard nosed defense he’s getting known for.”
Dirk Nowitzki will always be the catalyst of the Maverick offense as long as he’s in Dallas, but his future running mate isn’t Marquis Daniels or Devin Harris – its Josh Howard.
Maverick’s fans know how lucky they are every time Howard strips the ball from a careless player, only to throw it down with authority on the other end. Howard is the real deal, and with the exception of Dwayne Wade of the Heat and Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers; Josh Howard will forever be known as one of the top picks of the 2003 NBA Draft.
The future is bright for Josh Howard, and there shouldn’t be a day that goes by where Mavericks fans shouldn’t thank their lucky stars that Howard is wearing the blue and white.
Names such as Blakman and Harper hang from the AAC rafters as Mavericks greats, and by the way Howard has started his career, there is no reason that his name shouldn’t be up there some day – Howard is going to be that good. |
