With Dallas getting deep at the guards position I think putting Howard at the 4 would be a better option than Van Horn. Howard could play 24 minutes at the 3 and 12 minutes at the 4. The key is to put Howard with Diop because Diop is a great off the ball defender. This will make it hard for opposing teams to take advantage of this matchup. At the same time on the offensive end teams will really struggle guarding the athleticism of Howard there. This also allows Daniels, Stackhouse, and Harris to get more minutes instead of being squeazed for time. Projected lineup under this idea. C Dampier/Diop Pf Nowitzki/Howard SF Josh Howard/Griffin SG Marquis Daniels/Stackhouse PG Jason Terry/Harris
Yeh, he will other mould into Shawn Marion or we will realise he's too skinny to play there. I'm thinking he'd get exploited
Josh at 2 and 3, particularly when his jumper which he can create for himself is more consistent, seems more suited to his quickness. He is long and can guard taller slower opponents at 4 but he is bound to pick-up more fouls a problem in which he has made strides over the past year. He is very strong, stronger than say T. Prince, and even played some center in college in the zone, but he would be giving up at least 40 lbs. to most PFs.
Howard would definitely give up some weight but he could really school the second string power forward. He would come in when the starting power forward goes to the bench for the other team. I think it would cause more problems to the backup power forward than for Howard. As long as Howard can hit the perimeter shot he could really exploit them.