Saving Superman: 5 Players That Could Keep Dwight Howard in Orlando

Dwight Howard is evolving.

The evolutionary superman had his finest season to date last year, breaking the 20 PPG threshold for the first time while adding to his expansive Defensive Player of the Year trophy collection.

As the winds of trade continue to swirl in the days leading up to the start of this crazed and hectic lockout-shortened NBA season, Howard trade speculation reigns supreme.

While Chris Paul is another huge name, there is no name, or person, who can be larger than Dwight Howard. While every league executive stars him on their Christmas wish lists, Otis Smith and the Orlando Magic desperately search for ways to keep this juggernaut in a Magic Uniform.

In a recent statement, Howard said:

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"I love this city, there is no place I'd rather be but Orlando." 

"I just want to make sure we have the right things here so we can win a championship. I'm all about change. If you're willing to change and you're willing to do what it takes to win then, you know, you got me."

"

What has been shown by the Magic's struggles in winning an NBA title with their different variations of shooters surrounding Howard is that the team simply has not made the right moves to win it all.

They brought in Gilbert Arenas, Vince Carter and Jason Richardson to try and win it last year, but the "Hibachi Experiment" ended with the guard being cut under the amnesty clause.

Clearly, more changes must be made.

Here are five players that the Magic could target in order to make sure that Orlando does not decay into the JV Florida team.

Josh Smith

Last year LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade showed fans and executives alike what the power of friendship could do to reshape the NBA .

While landing Bosh and LeBron was monumental for the Miami Heat, it remains shrouded in mystery whether or not the front office would have pursued other stars in lieu of Bosh had the three not been such great pals.

Their on-court chemistry will flourish more than it already has because the three are also friends off court. This will improve their play together as they work on that whole six or seven championships thing.

The Orlando Magic, by bringing Howard's close friend Josh Smith to man his natural 3-spot position in Florida, would find themselves with a happy Howard and the highest dunk percentage in the league. 

The two would also make a devastating pair on the court.

With Big Baby Davis and Ryan Anderson manning the 4-spot, it leaves some frontcourt defense to be desired.

Josh Smith starting at the 3 would provide that in a big way and would give Howard what he's been missing in his entire career: a bruiser to take some of the punishment off him.

Monta Ellis

Another player whose management has made it known that he could be available, Monta Ellis would give the Magic what they thought they were getting with Gilbert Arenas: A bonafide wing scoring option.

Ellis can fill it up, no doubt about it. Most of the Magic's struggles came in fourth quarter situations, with shot clocks winding down and double teams restraining Howard. Their shooters are supposed to knock down threes at this point, but with as fickle of a shot as a treyball, it is far from a security blanket.

Ellis would plug into that Magical offense and become a stopgap.

With Howard doubled up, they could space shooters on the perimeter and give the ball to Ellis. It would force opposing teams to go into isolation with one of the most talented scorers in the NBA, and more often than not, he will get buckets.

That's just what he does. 

Deron Williams

Dwight Howard has been linked to the new-stadium-next-year Nets quite heavily as of late, so instead of letting Howard go to them, why not just bring the Nets to Orlando?

And by bring the Nets, I mean just Deron Williams.

The benefits of adding a point guard of Williams' caliber are obvious. Those games where Howard gets 6-8 touches would disappear with a truly skilled passing point guard.

Getting Williams to Orlando would be the hard part, unfortunately.

While the Magic definitely have assets, it remains to be seen if those are enough to reel in a top 10 guy. 

On the surface, something like Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick with a few picks just does not look like a Deron Williams package to me. What really helps Orlando is the bogus $7 million a year contract the Nets threw at Travis Outlaw, which the Magic could absorb.

The contract of Turkoglu is not that appealing either, though, and the Nets could just amnesty Travis Outlaw and be done with him, too.

The only way this would ever happen is if Williams stated he wanted out like Howard did, and then release a statement about he loves Orlando just like Howard did.  

Andre Iguodala

Like Josh Smith and Monta Ellis, this is another Dwight Howard wishlist player.

While the online community has already shown a lot of venom at Howard "trying to play GM," it must be said that the three players he has supposedly suggested to management show a lot of promise to fit his team's system.

Players have been working management to get buddies on their team for years now, but they have also been lobbying to get better players for generations. 

Iguodala would simply be great on any team where he was not the No. 1 option. We saw this in his time on Team USA last summer, where he showed his ability to act as the next installment of Scottie Pippen. 

He may even become scoring option No. 3 on the Magic, with Jason Richardson capable of putting up somewhere around 15-20 points a night.

In clutch time, though, Iguodala would supersede J-Rich, if only a little. 

His presence would also free whatever point guard that survives the trade to become what is essentially a spot-up shooter, as Iguodala is the second-best point forward in today's game behind Lebron James.

He would also wreak havoc defensively with a plain beast on the block providing backup for him. 

Chris Paul

Why not?

If the Magic are going to shop trade packages for star players, they might as well add a draft pick or two to whatever they would offer for someone like Andre Iguodala and first try to trade those players for Chris Paul.

The only reason the Los Angeles Lakers gave Lamar Odom to the team that purged them in the playoffs last year, the Dallas Mavericks, is because they had offended him so badly after nearly dealing him to the Hornets.

If the Magic are dead set on a trade, they have nothing to lose even if their trade is shot down by David Stern and their players are dejected. They are going to turn around and deal them somewhere else anyway, so it would only be a temporary inconvenience.

As with Deron Williams, what Paul brings to the table is obvious. Many teams are drooling over the possibilities of aligning both Paul and Howard on their team next year.

Why not put them together where Howard already plays?