Dwight Howard’s request to finish the season with the
Orlando Magic just illustrates why players shouldn’t be put in the position to
make personnel decisions. A player will worry more about what benefits them
than what will ultimately benefit the team.
And keeping Howard in Orlando for the rest of the season does
not benefit the Magic at all. Sure they will win a few more games and most
likely make the playoffs this year but then what? Next year they will be one of
the worst teams in the league.
At least if they traded Howard they would be able to bring
in some building blocks in the form of draft picks and maybe a player or two to
help ease their transition from Howard. This year’s draft will be one of the
deepest in a long time since many players who would have come out last year opted
not to come out because of the impending lockout.
It also hinders the Magic in one of their top priorities and
that is ridding themselves of Hedo Turkoglu’s hideous contract. Their best
chance to move Turkoglu hinges on them moving him in a package deal with
Howard. If Howard walks (or should I say when) then not only do the Magic lose
their best player but they are still stuck with Turkoglu.
What should anger Magic fans though is how truly selfish
Howard’s request is. Howard seems more interested in not hurting his future
team than he is about leaving something behind for his soon-to-be former team.
Howard has expressed a desire most recently to join Deron
Williams and the New Jersey Nets as a free agent after the season which means
that the Nets won’t have to give up anything to get him putting them in better
position to hit the ground running next year.
Nice for New Jersey, horrible for Orlando. But this is the
risk the Magic seem willing to take in the slim hope that they can keep Howard
in Orlando next year.
Not a hope really, more of a wish because if they were
really paying attention they would realize that Howard is pretty much a goner.
It’s just a matter of time.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and is also an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.
Looks like he let his emotions determine his destination. This was clearly not a busin decision.
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