NBA Rumors: JR Smith Won't Stop Dwight Howard from Ditching Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic may be the leaders in the clubhouse to land JR Smith, but it'll take much more than locking down a wayward shooting guard to convince Dwight Howard not to jump ship.

According to Eric Pincus of Hoopsworld, the Magic have pulled ahead in the race to secure Smith's signature once he's received his letter of clearance from the Chinese Basketball Association, which could come as soon as Thursday.

Once Smith has the approval in hand, he'll be the hottest commodity on the market in the NBA, with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers, the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls all scrumming for his services.

So why the Magic, you ask? Simple—money. Orlando can offer Smith up to $4.9M, a.k.a. the remainder of its middle-level exception, though GM Otis Smith would have to waive someone from his team's roster first to make room for Smith.

Not that big of a deal, considering the end of his bench is currently populated by Daniel Orton, DeAndre Liggins and Ish Smith. Choosing from those three would be more a matter of who the Magic should dump first rather than who they'd most prefer to hang on to.

Meanwhile, the Lakers, Clippers and Bulls all have space for Smith, and the Knicks could easily create some if they let go of, say, Mike Bibby. Still, the most any of those four could offer would be New York's $2.5 million, which, along with the opportunity to play on the biggest stage and start alongside Jeremy Lin, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, might ultimately be his best bet.

That doesn't mean that the Magic won't pull out all the stops lure Smith to Orlando, even though they already have two shooting guards (Jason Richardson and JJ Redick) on the roster. It's incumbent upon Otis Smith to do anything and everything within his power to upgrade the stock of players around Dwight Howard to convince him that, at the very least, management is fully committed to building a winner, no matter what it takes.

The GM's job is riding on it.

Unfortunately for Otis Smith and Orlando, even piling up victories, with or without JR Smith, won't likely be enough to keep Howard in O-Town.

That is, unless Otis Smith can somehow turn the theme park capital of the country into a burgeoning metropolis, complete with an enormous media contingent and a launching pad for his personal "brand" further into the global stratosphere.

Which is to say, it won't happen. Once All-Star Weekend comes and goes, the reality of Howard's imminent departure will finally set in across central Florida, whether the Magic trade him or not.

And whether they sign JR Smith or not.

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