Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Dwight Howard Trade Situation

Since the summer, one of the biggest NBA free agent headlines (aside from Chris Paul) has been the future destination for Dwight Howard. It's amazing how much speculation goes on during times like this. Remember in the summer of 2010 when LeBron was rumored to be going to a new team everyday until this? The amount of pressure put on these athletes to make the right decision for not only themselves, but for the fans, their team and the league is unfathomable. But in Dwight Howard's case, it's confusing as to why he is having such a difficult time with his choice.


With the recent (rumored) addition of the Clippers to his "desired" list of teams he'd prefer to be traded to, Howard's list is now at 4- also including the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Jersey Nets. Any of these trades is a realistic, of course unless he decides to remain in Orlando. It was only a few months ago that Dwight was rumored to have requested a trade to, get this....the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. Why anyone would want to become a part of that franchise at this point of time is puzzling to me. The Nets have not made the playoffs since the 2007 season when Jason Kidd and Vince Carter were still members of the team. The Nets were however able to acquire a top point guard in Deron Williams a year ago. It's ironic though, how Deron Williams has not been talked about much since arriving in New Jersey- a much bigger market than his former team in Salt Lake City, Utah. The reason for this is the complete irrelevance of the Nets. The management has not been able to put quality players on the roster to help elevate the team from its current state of mediocrity (I'm looking at you Mikhail Prokhorov). With the exception of Brooke Lopez and Williams, the team mainly consists of players who would be either bench players on other teams or guys who would never be heard of. So my point is that I have no idea why the hell Dwight Howard would be interested in going from a team that is top 4 in the Eastern Conference where he is surrounded by a group of proven players to a team full of bonafide scrubs that lacks the ability to win a home game 14 games into the season.

(Bonafide scrub (noun): someone who plays for the Nets...and divorces Kim Kardasian)

If you want my opinion, I think Dwight is better off staying where he is. Sure, the Lakers and Mavericks are both very good teams but, Dwight can solidify his legacy in Orlando. He can do something different from Shaq to end the comparisons (in personality and decision making at least-it's dumb to think he could be compared in terms of talent to Shaq). He's got a brand new arena in Orlando and the All Star Game is there this year. He has the ability and marketability to attract good free agents to a team with an otherwise small market. Magic GM Otis Smith has done a very good job thus far of handing this situation though. He seems (or at least comes off as) very confident in the team's chances of keeping Dwight. The city of Orlando can only hope.

Dwight, I think it's time to make a decision. You've made the playoffs the past 5 seasons in Orlando which included a trip to the NBA Finals in 2009. You won't find that on many other teams..especially the Nets. The Magic have gone above and beyond to surround you with a plethora (great word) of talent to give the team the best chance possible to win a championship. Show the people of Orlando and the organization some loyalty so you can be viewed as the loyal "good guy" superstar in the NBA because there aren't a ton of them left. And oh yeah, would it kill you to learn the "dream shake" or something?

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