Did Magic do enough to keep Dwight?

[A.E]

Did Orlando do enough to keep Dwight Howard in town?
​

In the summer of 2012, Dwight Howard can be a free agent. (He has a player option for 2013.)

Orlando General Manager Otis Smith watched what happened in Cleveland last summer with keen interest — the superstar player in a smallish market who didn’t win the title he craved and bolted town because of it. Smith knows that a big man named Shaquille O’Neal did that exact same thing to Orlando a little more than a decade ago.

Smith heard Howard tell him over the summer he wanted Chris Paul or Carlos Boozer as a teammate because they needed to get in the arms race, according to Ken Berger at CBSSports. Those deals did not come together.

Then Smith watched the Magic stumble out of the gates… well, for them. The Magic are 16-10 but were clearly a step behind the Celtics and Heat (and basically even with a Bulls team that can’t stay healthy so far). Then Smith looked west and saw the struggles of the Denver front office, having to move Carmelo Anthony before the deadline so that they don’t end up like Cleveland.

Smith knew he had no choice — swing for the fences and win now. Make a big, bold trade. So he did. Hedo Turkoglu comes back. Gilbert Arenas gets a second chance. Jason Richardson comes to town. There’s some wild cards, some risks, but no doubt this is a bold move.

Will it be enough?

Only time will tell — but credit Smith for going big. Rather than waiting and hoping, rather than making smaller moves, he swung for the fences. It could fail and with it Smith could have endangered his job. That didn’t deter him, he went for it all.

It could lead to other problems — Jameer Nelson could be a free agent in the summer of 2012 too and may not like having Arenas around. But Smith is close to Arenas, plus he had no real choice.

Now we’ll watch and see if Smith connected and hit a home run. Enough of a hit to keep Howard in Orlando.

-PBT

I don't know about ya'll but.......I am sick and tired of this (new) notion in the NBA that you have to completely turn over your roster & load it up with bigger name talent, in order to show your star player that you are committed. Are the Magic committed to winning? What kinda question is that? Orlando already had the 2nd highest payroll in the league and now they're basically making their own financial situation worse by taking on Turkoglu's disgusting contract & Gilbert's backloaded deal.

This is getting rediculous and before I even blame Pat Riley & the Heat, I am going to blame the Lakers. Thanks to the Lakers and that whole Pau Gasol deal...every f'ing team in the league is constantly looking over their shoulder. Teams are now doing whatever they can to load up on stars, in order to beat the Lakers....or they're loading up on stars, to keep their franchise player happy, so he doesn't want to become a Laker. S M F H

 

[elcheato]

Players have too much control in the NBA..

 

[Pugz]

dont blame the lakers, theyre just like the yankees.


i dont like how much control the nba players have either, i dont like the start studded teams. but i dont think dwight wouldve left anyways. lol

 

[DJT]

They need to take pay cuts, probably establish a hard cap. But the sad part is the NBA players are so spoiled they won't even take a 15% cut on their massive salaries.

I don't think Dwight will leave Orlando either.

 

[RipCity32]

To answer your question. We will see in June..

I really have no idea what to think of this team currently. Could be nice, or a failure.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I actually don't think Dwight will leave. IF he does its to the West Coast, because there's no team he could run to in the Eastern that would give him a better chance to win.

I honestly believe he will stay, and I think what they have in Orlando now may be enough. I dont know who else is coming off contract in 2012 that could in a rare way potentially lead to the same thing we saw with Miami -- 3, or even 2, superstars going to one team that can afford them. I mean, is there someone else that's a big play-maker that would go with him elsewhere in 2012? Idk.

And AE I completely agree with what you are saying but I still understand why bringing in superstars is the way to go right now. If you look back at the 90s, how did teams compete with the Bulls' Jordan and Pippen? Big stars... However, back then it was spectacular dunks vs tough-skinned defense, whereas now its more of beating one offense with a stronger offense.

The 90s, teams like the Knicks has to add to their already competitive rosters just to stay neck to neck with the Bulls and Pacers. You had teams that had 2 or 3 big names.

Jazz -- Malone and short-shorted Stockton
Knicks -- Ewing, Starks, Oakley
Bulls -- Jordan, Pippen
Spurs -- Rodman, Robinson

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. It's been going on for decades, stretching back to the 80s with Byrd and Magic Johnson. We just forget sometimes. Thats why I'm not entirely surprised by this surge of talent on 3 or 4 teams in the NBA. It's what we used to have years ago and many recognize the 90s as the best decade in NBA History. Maybe we're back to that... you may not like it, but having 4 or 5 powerhouses duking it out and trying to add better talent each year may actually be better for the NBA.

 

[DJT]

CP3 is a free agent in 2012.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Well, I got no idea what Orlando's financial flexibility would be in 2012 but I could easily see CP joining Howard on the Magic, similar to what Wade did.

 

[A.E]

dont blame the lakers, theyre just like the yankees.

Oh no, they can't be. According to this great salary structure MLB (apparently) needs....the NBA is able to prevent the Yankees from happening.

/sarcasm

 

[elcheato]

A salary cap is what's stopping them from fielding superstars at every position.. And they need a hard cap, which is what the NBA is going to get with the new CBA coming in..

 

[A.E]

A salary cap is what's stopping them from fielding superstars at every position.. And they need a hard cap, which is what the NBA is going to get with the new CBA coming in..

3/5 of an NBA starting lineup can be superstars and if you look at any baseball team, the same story.

 

[South Florida]

Love for him to be able to play with CP3

 

[$tunna]

Players have too much control in the NBA..

Agreed^

With that said.... The DWIGHT-ATL-012! Campaign begins lol

 

[Elite]

Lol, what would you guys do with Horford/Smoove if you got DH12? J-Smoove is doodoo at SF.

 

[DJT]

He could be a good SF I think. Especially if he will work on his range some more. Horford would be a fine PF to.

 

[Elite]

Haven't they always wanted to move Horford to PF?

 

[DJT]

Probably. But they haven't ever gotten a good C. They tried getting Shaq. But that didn't work out.

 

[$tunna]

Josh Smith doesn't suck at SF.. We actually play him at SF a lot more now and we moved twin (Jason Collins) into the lineup at C. If Dwight came that'd be a lock down defensive lineup with

Teague (Hopefully)
JJ
J-Smoove
Horford
Dwight

The paint would be on lock at all times haha

 

[Mexi]

This is getting rediculous and before I even blame Pat Riley & the Heat, I am going to blame the Lakers. Thanks to the Lakers and that whole Pau Gasol deal...every f'ing team in the league is constantly looking over their shoulder. Teams are now doing whatever they can to load up on stars, in order to beat the Lakers....or they're loading up on stars, to keep their franchise player happy, so he doesn't want to become a Laker. S M F H

SMH the same Pau everyone is always calling a softy? who the hell wants his soft ass anyways

lakers gave Memphis a nice deal (Marc Gasol who is is putting up the same numbers as Pau his first few seasons in the league minus the points....and shot attempts, Kwame's expiring which meant money for ZBo, Greivis Vasquez and Darrell Arthur)

who do the lakers have that everyone is jealous over?
Kobe was draft day trade
Odom was traded for
Pau was traded for
Artest sucks
Fisher sucks
Bynum was drafted
etc

teams should get better scouts

 

[elcheato]

The Grizzlies gave Jerry West and his prized Lakers a good deal..