If the resurrection of Dwight Howard had to begin somewhere, it's fitting that it's here, in Atlanta, the city where Howard developed into the near-7-foot terror who would go on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Success was followed by a sharp — and well-chronicled — fall, but if the early returns foreshadow anything, it's that the Hawks, who inked Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million deal last summer, may have been just what Howard needed. When Hawks coach/president Mike Budenholzer dug into the idea of signing Howard, he followed one principle: “Focus on the positive,” Budenholzer told The Vertical.