Dwight Howard: How Season-Ending Back Surgery Will Impact Magic and Team USA
Dwight Howard's done. His back? Kaput, destined for a date with a surgeon's scalpel in Los Angeles.
And so, too, are the slim NBA postseason hopes of the Orlando Magic and, perhaps, Team USA's claim to gold at the Summer Olympics in London.
Do You Believe in Magic?
The immediate impact of Howard's absence on the Magic is clear. That entire team is built around Superman's particular talents—his defensive presence in the paint, his ability to outleap and outmuscle other frontcourt players for boards, his slowly improving offensive game. Howard is enough of a scoring threat that opposing teams have to collapse on him when he has the ball, opening up perimeter shots for Orlando's arsenal of three-point specialists (i.e., J.J. Redick, Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson).
On the other hand, Howard's help defense gives his slow-footed teammates the leeway to gamble and mask their deficiencies while funneling the ball into the lane.
Without Howard around, teams will be free to defend the Magic's supporting cast straight-up on one end of the court and parade into the paint on the other.
And you thought Stan Van Gundy's Diet Pepsi sips were tense before...
Of course, the Magic were practically DOA in the playoffs well before Howard's back gave out on him. Howard's supposed tiff with SVG had already torn the locker room asunder, all but eliminating the possibility of the team establishing enough harmony from top to bottom for its mediocre roster to make any noise—even against the up-and-coming Indiana Pacers in the first round.
Flying the Coop
The bigger concern for Orlando is whether or not this injury means that Dwight's played his final game in a Magic uniform. Odds are, SVG will be gone at season's end, followed closely by emasculated GM Otis Smith.
Whoever's left at the wheel, after heads are done rollin', will be in the same unenviable position in which Smith found himself after the lockout—trying fruitlessly to convince Howard to stick around, convince owner Rich DeVos to part ways with his franchise player and/or gear up for another season driven to distraction, with the hope that the Magic can contend in the meantime.
Either way, Orlando is bound to lose. The Magic won't likely be able to sway Howard away from at least testing free agency, if not bolting for brighter lights in a bigger city altogether.
Neither can the organization expect to compete for a title with a lame-duck superstar in the middle. This season's middling results (and the circus that came with them) should serve as Exhibit A in that case.
And the Magic can't possibly think they'll be able to get fair or equal value for Howard on the trade market, even less so if his wish list remains as limited as it's been all season.
So yeah, the Magic are screwed, regardless of where they turn. Chances are, they'll find a way to get something for him and begin another long and painful rebuilding process, rather than dragging themselves and their fans through deja vu.
Red, White and Black-and-Blue
As for the situation with Team USA, while Howard's presence in the middle will be missed in London (even if the distraction won't be), the Americans should still be considered the prohibitive favorites to bring home the gold. Tyson Chandler is more than capable of compensating for Howard's defensive production.
In fact, Chandler's athleticism guarding perimeter-oriented forwards, his unselfishness and his ability to operate without the ball might actually make him a perfect fit to anchor the front line on a squad full of superb scorers.
The backup situation may be a bit trickier to figure out. LaMarcus Aldridge will be out on account of a hip injury, and Lamar Odom effectively played his way off the roster with his shenanigans this season.
That likely leaves Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Chris Bosh to duke it out for, at most, two other spots at guard/forward.
Assuming, of course, Jerry Colangelo, the head of USA Basketball, doesn't pull a Bob Barker and bring out All-Star center Andrew Bynum from behind Door No. 2, which he very well could.
In any case, the Red, White and Blue have more than enough quality big men from whom to choose to survive, if not thrive, without Howard on the world stage.
Frankly, Howard's game isn't all that well suited to international competition, in which versatility and the ability to spread the floor are paramount.
What's more, Spain, America's biggest threat to the basketball throne, will have its own injury woes with which to deal on account of Ricky Rubio's torn ACL.
So, realistically, Dwight Howard's bad back figures to have a more devastating impact on Disney World than the basketball world, though the hoops landscape as a whole won't be the same once Superman's well enough to wear his cape again.
Wherever that may be.
