NBA Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard Can Only Himself for Dwightmare Mess

In news that hardly qualifies as shocking, Dwight Howard still doesn't want to play for the Orlando Magic, according to ESPN's Ric Bucher:

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After several months of trying to trade Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan called the All-Star center Wednesday night to see if he'd reconsider giving Hennigan and the Magic's new regime a chance to keep Howard in Orlando, a source close to Howard said.

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For all Howard's resentment of the team that put him on the map, he should take account for his role in this never-ending debacle.

It's all to easy to point fingers at Otis Smith and the Orlando Magic front office that was.

There's nothing about acquisitions like Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson that make a whole lot of sense. The six-year, $112 million deal once given to Rashard Lewis and then exchanged for Gilbert Arenas has raised more than its share of eyebrows as well.

Then, of course, Orlando swapped a forward with some mid-range game in Brandon Bass for Glen "Big Baby" Davis, a guy destined to create a crowd in the paint when Dwight Howard's around.

Howard was open about his wishes for input into personnel decisions, and he may very well have played a role in a few of them. He was almost certainly behind the decision to acquire Davis, which unquestionably set this year's team back.

D12 may aspire to be a general manager, but he shouldn't quite his day job anytime soon.

And about that day job.

Sure, Howard is a phenomenal athlete and a menace inside the paint. But, he's yet to become the kind of scorer that elite giants like Shaquille O'Neal were in their primes.

His superstar status has a bit more to do with hype than reality. If Howard had, at any point in his eight years, developed a competent mid-range game, the Magic would probably be significantly better. 

But Orlando's predicament isn't just about this organization's roster or inability to make a compelling postseason push.

It has more to do with the extent to which Howard has influenced this situation in such a public and counterproductive way.

By airing his grievances to the world, he ruined Orlando's leverage. With every front office on the planet understanding that Howard is a goner one way or the other, it's no secret that general manager Rob Hennigan must move his disaffected big man or risk losing him for nothing.

The shortlist of preferred destinations didn't help either. Why give Orlando your best possible offer when you know they can only send him to a couple of teams?

Howard's brash publicity campaign was his own worst enemy, and it's made it virtually impossible for the Magic to receive fair value in any deals they make.

And chances are, he'd already be with the Brooklyn Nets had he not decided to opt in to the final year of his deal with Orlando.

This painful saga might otherwise be over by now.

We can all think Dwight that it isn't.