NBA Rumors: Magic Must Take Advantage of Warriors' Foolery & Trade Dwight Howard

Otis Smith must embrace his inner bear hunter.

Dwight Howard is the bait and the Golden State Warriors are the bear.  If Smith and the Orlando Magic set up their trap correctly, they’ll walk away from the 2012 NBA trade deadline with the kill and a killer return for their superstar center.

The San Jose Mercury News’ Tim Kawakami reported that the Warriors’ initially-believed far-fetched pursuit of Howard isn’t over and there’s no ending in sight. 

While a number of teams have reportedly been told to just stop trying, Golden State hasn’t.  And the Warriors are infatuated enough with D12 to deal for him without a guarantee that he’ll re-sign.

Golden State can no longer be considered curious; they’re willing to go all-in to acquire the All-World center.

Orlando is still a mammoth underdog to persuade Superman to stick around.  The New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks, two teams Howard has consistently expressed interest in, have to be considered the favorites to land him if he miraculously hits free agency. 

With that incredible risk of losing him for nothing still in existence, Smith must take advantage of the Warriors’ eagerness to land Howard.

Mark Jackson’s crew sounds primed to sell the farm.  If given the opportunity, Orlando must drain the Warriors of their young talent.  Demand Stephen Curry, David Lee and Klay Thompson, if not more.

Sure, giving up so much from the Warriors’ standpoint doesn’t make sense, but if they're willing, Orlando has no choice but to take candy from the baby. 

Why roll the dice when even with Howard, Orlando will still be hard-pressed to win a league title with the lack of firepower that they have surrounding him?

An auction is won by the highest bidder.  No bidding ceiling exists.  If the Warriors want to swap a chunk of their squad for a single star, then Smith and the Magic should simply allow them to do so.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels