Homecoming ends abruptly

Howard heading to Hornets after one often-stormy season.

The Dwight Howard homecoming lasted one season.

The Hawks traded the Atlanta native to the Hornets on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the situation. The Hawks will receive Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and a second-round pick, No. 41, in Thursday’s NBA draft in the deal. The Hawks will also send a second-round pick, No. 31 overall in this draft, to the Hornets.

The Hawks signed Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million contract as a free agent last year. Howard, 31, was due to make $23.5 million this season.

The dramatic move is the first for new Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk, who was hired this month after a shakeup of the organization’s front office.

Howard averaged 13.5 points and led the team with 12.7 rebounds per game. The scoring average was the second-lowest of Howard’s 12-year career, less than every season but his rookie year at 12.0 in 2004-05.

There were several games this season in which Howard did not play in the fourth quarter. Most notably was the entire period in the Hawks’ Game 2 and Game 6 elimination losses to the Wizards in the first-round playoff series.

Howard was not happy with the lack of playing time in key situations during his exit interview following the season’s final loss.

“It hurts,” Howard said in May. “I’m sure if you wrote the best stories in the world and nobody read your stories and they told you to stop writing and you saw somebody else’s story that wasn’t as good as yours, I’m pretty sure you’d be pissed, too. That’s how it is in basketball.”

The Hawks will take on salary in Plumlee. The center has three years remaining on his contract at $12.4 million per season. Belinelli has one year remaining on his contract at $6.6 million.

Plumlee appeared in 45 games last season for the Bucks and Hornets. The center averaged 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. Plumlee replaces Howard as the only center on the Hawks’ roster for now. Belinelli appeared in 74 games last season for the Hornets. The guard/forward averaged 10.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

Howard joined the Hawks after playing for the Magic, Lakers and Rockets. He was an eight-time All-Star, fivetime All-NBA First Team and the Defensive Player of the Year three straight seasons (2008-11).

Howard got emotional during his introductory news conference, with Kent Bazemore, in July. The event was held at the William Walker Recreation Center, where Howard played as a youth.

“I’m happy to be home,” Howard said. “I know I am in a totally different place physically, mentally and spiritually than I was three years ago. I don’t think three years ago I would be the man I am today. This is really a new beginning for me. I’m happy to share that with my loved ones.”

There were moments — good and bad — last season.

Howard ranked fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.633), fifth in rebounds per game (12.7), sixth in double-doubles (53) and 20th in blocks (1.2). He had three 20-point, 20-rebound games.

Howard did not play late in several games. He also refused to speak to the media on occasion after a loss or a late-game benching. He got into an on-court argument with Dennis Schroder that resulted in a wideopen 3-pointer by Stephen Curry during a March loss to the Warriors. Howard and Schroder never developed an on-court chemistry in the pick-and-roll game.

Schlenk faces several major decisions early in his tenure with the Hawks. Paul Millsap is an unrestricted free agent. Tim Hardaway Jr. is a restricted free agent and will likely receive an offer the Hawks must decide whether to match.

Schlenk said at his introductory news conference that he believed Howard could work with the Hawks, despite coach Mike Budenholzer’s pace-and-space offensive style.

“Listen, Dwight is one of the best big guys in the league still,” Schlenk said. “He averaged 13 points and 13 rebounds a game. He’s one of the best rebounders in the league. He’s one of the best rim protectors in the league.”

In the end, there was no storybook ending for Howard.

CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM Dwight Howard’s 13.5-point average with the Hawks was the second-lowest of 12-year career. Howard occasionally was benched during the fourth quarter, notably in two playoff games.