Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Star's Dismay Will Force Magic's Hand

The more information that comes out involving Dwight Howard, the more you have to ask yourself whether he is really worth the headache or not. With his season over, the only thing the Orlando Magic center has to look forward to is the offseason will include rehab and reportedly another trade demand. 

According to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Howard is going to tell the front office that he doesn't want to play in Orlando anymore. 

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The minute this season is over, according to what I am hearing from his camp, you can expect Dwight Howard to  tell Orlando, 'Get me out of here. I don't want to be here any longer.'  You've got Stan Van Gundy annoyed with the organization.  You've got Dwight Howard disgusted with the organization.  The way he's been treated, along with the way his teammates have been AWOL on him as far as he's concerned.

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Unlike the fiasco that played out during the season, the Magic should acquiesce to Howard's demands this time around. 

It won't be easy to deal him as he is coming off back surgery, and he will need time to rehab, but trying to move an unhappy superstar who clearly has a lot of problems with his teammates and the organization would be better served playing somewhere else. 

That is not to say the Magic should just give him away, because they shouldn't. But this whole situation has reached the point of no return, even after Howard tried to return by basically giving away his rights to free agency after the year because he didn't want to offend anyone. 

It is time for the Magic to start a full-blown rebuilding effort. Doing that would be much easier with the 26-year-old Howard as a part of it, but you can't keep trying to sweep things under the rug. 

Assuming Howard does follow through with this reported trade demand, the Magic should be more than happy to start making calls because there are a lot of desperate teams that would pay a lot, both in current players and draft picks, to bring Howard aboard. 

There is no reason to pretend like this relationship can be fixed anymore. The Magic have a lot of money and a lot of years committed to a lot of mediocre players, so they are going to be middling in the Eastern Conference for some time. 

Why not expedite the rebuild process by trading the best and most valuable asset you have when it sounds like he wants nothing to do with the franchise anymore?

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