CHART: A Promising Sign That Dwight Howard's Career Is On The Way Back Up

In his first season with the Houston Rockets, Dwight Howard's numbers look a lot like his numbers last season with the Los Angeles Lakers which were well below the peak of his career with the Orlando Magic. However, there is one stat that suggests Howard is on the way back up.

So far this season, Howard is making 55.4% of his free throws. While that is still not a good rate, it is significantly better than his last season in Orlando (49.1%) and last year with the Lakers (49.2%) and much closer to his free throw rate earlier in his career.

At the same time his free throw percentage is going up, so is Howard's overall value. This season, Howard is on pace to be worth 9.6 Win Shares per 82 games (via Basketball-Reference.com), his first increase after two straight seasons of steep decline. Howard, may never again reach the level of play he displayed in 2008-09 through 2010-11, but he is showing he is still a dominant player and is getting better.