Dwight Howard: Is the Magic's First Round Loss a Good Sign for the Lakers?

There is a chance that the Dwight Howard era may have come to an end with the Orlando Magic's first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2011 NBA Playoffs, but that probably depends on where you get your information.

Howard will be a free agent in 2012 and the Magic recently announced that general manager Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy would both be returning for the 2011-12 season.

Smith and Van Gundy's return could be a message to Howard that management and coaching will be familiar and stable once it's time for him to make his decision, but convincing Howard that the roster around him will improve is a different matter.

This season the Magic were really only title contenders by perception, and the Hawks shattered that myth in a humbling six-game series win.

The Magic's roster in its current state will never again contend for the East crown, much less the NBA title, but the real question is can Smith and/or Van Gundy convince any top tier talent to join Howard in Orlando before he decides to leave?

There are several factors working against the Magic such as a dearth of horrible contracts, and a roster full of players that have decent ability, but little trade value.

Smith was able to get rid of Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and their horrible contracts, but he accepted an equally terrible contract with Gilbert Arenas, and Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson didn't have the type of impact that was expected.

The Magic will likely try to sign one of the top free-agent point guards available to pair with Howard, and that means chasing either New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul or New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams.

If Paul and Williams make it obvious that they will choose to pursue their NBA careers elsewhere, then the Hornets and Nets will probably seek to deal them rather than risk losing them in free agency for nothing.

In that instance does Orlando have enough desirable players to offer either team as a fair medium of exchange?

Not likely. And if Smith is unable to convince Howard to stay in Orlando his next step would be to try and get as close to trade value as he could for Howard or similarity risk losing him for nothing.

Depending on how long and drawn out the process is there is a chance that Smith will be forced to accept the best offer he can for Howard, and there are few other teams who can offer the same type of pieces as the Los Angeles Lakers.

There has been plenty of speculation concerning Howard and the Lakers and he didn't help matters much when he said he could see himself playing in Los Angeles in the future during the NBA's All-Star weekend.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing Howard wasn't talking about the Clippers.

If the interest between Howard and the Lakers really is mutual, then there are multiple avenues the Lakers could take to make a deal work.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are considered to be the only Lakers who are untouchable on the roster, but I'm willing to believe that if Gasol turned out to be the deal-breaker in a potential trade, then he is as good as gone.

Many people didn't believe that the Magic would lose to the Hawks in the first round, and there are more that believe there is no chance of Howard signing with the Lakers.

But the loss to the Hawks and Howard's future could be inter-connected, and considering the Lakers' history it would be foolish to think it's an impossible task.

Few people saw the deal that brought Gasol to Los Angeles happening, and in Howard's case a clear precedent has already been established.

Almost 15 years ago another young center from Orlando named Shaquille O'Neal changed the landscape of the NBA when he decided to bolt Florida for California, and the stage could be set for history to replay itself.