NBA Rumors: Magic Mayhem Leaves Dwight Howard and Orlando in Precarious Position

Just when the Orlando Magic seemed to have finally found some solace following the turbulence of the NBA trade deadline, this happened:

In summary, Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed rumors that Dwight Howard wanted him gone. Then Dwight himself came into the picture, not knowing what Van Gundy had said. Then reporters asked Dwight if what Stan had just said was true, and Howard tried to play it off as ridiculous.

So who's telling the truth? Hmmm...let's see. On the one hand, we have SVG, a coach who's notoriously candid and forthright (which both helps and hurts him at times). Discussing something like this publicly may make him a martyr of sorts, but it doesn't exactly help his job security, now or into the future. Directing the spotlight of scrutiny back toward Magic management (and the superstar they've chosen to support) is practically equivalent to Stan Van begging for a pink slip.

And doing so in this manner isn't likely to appeal to SVG's prospective employers once he and the Magic part ways.

On the other hand, we have Howard, another confused young superstar who wants to have his cake and eat it too, who wants to be thought of as lovable and loyal but also wants to build his "brand" in a bigger market. Surely, he wouldn't want anyone to think he's a coach killer or an all-around bad guy in any way.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Dwight's been asking Orlando's higher-ups to do away with SVG and GM Otis Smith since last summer, and there remains some suspicion that he might've made his ability to call those shots a stipulation for him opting into the final year of his contract.

Howard's aversion to Smith is understandable, considering how poor a job he's done keeping the Magic in title contention. Rather than try to build on the team's success after reaching the NBA Finals in 2009, Smith practically blew it all up, letting Hedo Turkoglu walk and sending Courtney Lee and some scraps (i.e. Rafer Alston and Tony Battie) to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson.

Hindsight being what it is, that trade wasn't such a bad one for Orlando in the long run, though things didn't get any better when Smith panicked (again) the following year and shipped out Carter, Marcin Gortat, Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus in return for Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, Earl Clark and Gilbert Arenas.

For all of that turbulence on the trade market, Van Gundy has managed to keep the Magic highly competitive in the Eastern Conference, albeit a notch below the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. If anything, SVG deserves all the credit in the world for getting Orlando to overachieve with the largely underwhelming stock of players he has to surround his All-Star big man.

And while Smith is an easy (and partially responsible) scapegoat in all of this, the real culprits sit in even cushier seats and share a closer relationship with owner Rich DeVos. Magic management have long allowed Howard to have his run of the joint, not unlike the arrangement of which LeBron James and his cronies took advantage with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

DeVos has said that he doesn't want to trade Dwight, with some suggesting that, at 86, he'd rather not endure another full-scale rebuilding period, that he wants to win now.

Who could blame him? After all, that should be the goal of any team that employs the most dominant big man in basketball, shouldn't it?

Then again, it's a goal that seems ever more elusive with each passing day, as the Bulls and the Heat improve and the Magic continue to backslide. 

Once Van Gundy is gone (and possibly Smith after him), there won't be many people left at whom Howard and the Magic can point fingers. At some point, DeVos and his confidantes will have to take a good, long look in the mirror and decide whether what they want—to keep Howard—is what's best for the franchise.

Of course, if they can convince Dwight to sign a long-term extension, then it's a no-brainer.

But Howard's already made it clear, in far too many ways, that he's not in it for the long haul, that he wants to sew his wild oats on the open market.

Which brings the Magic right back to the same choice with which they were left when the NBA lockout was lifted this past fall—between playing out the string, hoping to contend and taking their chances with a superstar whose wishes seem to shift with the wind; and squeezing Superman for all they can on the trade market this summer while ridding themselves of the attendant circus.

Except, this time, the stakes will be higher, because there is no more opt-in and there may not be a coach or a GM.

Everlasting peace? More like an all-too-temporary ceasefire.

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