Dwight Howard Must Prepare for 1st-Round Playoff Exit with No Trade Forthcoming

The Dwight Howard drama is finally over! For now at least, as it's sure to resume during the season and again during next year's free-agency period, assuming the Orlando Magic can't deal him away before the in-season trading deadline. 

Now, Superman must steel himself for a first-round playoff exit instead of preparing to compete for a title with the Brooklyn Nets, the Houston Rockets or the Los Angeles Lakers. In this case, his kryptonite is the rest of the Magics' roster. 

RealGM's Jarrod N. Rudolph broke the news that talks between the Magic and all suitors have been suspended: 

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Sources: Magic GM Rob Hennigan told Howard the team tired to make a deal but none of the offers met the team's satisfaction.

— Jarrod N Rudolph (@JRudolphSports) July 11, 2012"

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Sources: Orlando Magic have informed Dwight Howard that they are suspending trade talks in favor of finding next head coach.

— Jarrod N Rudolph (@JRudolphSports) July 11, 2012"

Without a trade, Howard has absolutely no chance of moving past the first round. The Atlanta Hawks proved in the past that it was possible to stop the Howard-led Magic by letting the big men go to work with minimal attention and focusing on shutting down the rest of the squad. 

Now that Ryan Anderson has been shipped off to the New Orleans Hornets for Gustavo Ayon, that supporting cast is worse than ever. There is no Robin to Superman's Batman if I may mix the superhero stories for the sake of the metaphor. 

The only move of much significance that the Magic have made, besides the swap of power forwards with "A" last names, has been to re-sign Jameer Nelson. I'm sure everyone in Orlando is just thrilled about that. 

Orlando may be left with a starting lineup of Howard, Glen Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Jameer Nelson—a squad capable of contending if it was 2006. 

Howard alone is enough to get this team back to the playoffs but not through the first round, especially if he's completely unmotivated and knows that he's about to get a max contract of his choosing in free agency. 

The Chicago Bulls will be better once Derrick Rose returns. The Miami Heat are obviously better. With successful—to varying degrees—offseasons, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets have jumped ahead of the Magic on the NBA totem poll. 

The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics remain ahead, and the Atlanta Hawks are just about on the same level, even after trading Joe Johnson. And would anyone actually be surprised if the Philadelphia 76ers were better than the Orlando Magic? 

That's eight teams that could potentially be better than the Magic already. And there's no telling what type of leap the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers could make now that their young players have another year of experience, and they've added crucial pieces. 

Things aren't looking so good for Mr. Howard right now. 

Then again, things could change at any time, and Rob Hennigan could shop him once more. At this point, that's the only way he's going to make any noise in the postseason.