Is there any chance of Dwight NOT leaving the Magic?

[No Offense]

I just don't understand, after knowing what we do now, how people are not willing to accept that it's a real possibility.

[giberish]

For the people that say he's staying, care to list any reasons why?

Here's what I came up with:
-Orlando somehow makes a playoff run this year or the next making it back to the Finals and being competitive/winning a title.
-Hope the new CBA has a very low hard cap (unlikely), has a franchise tag (maybe a team can use it for a year or two, hard to agree to the PA agreeing to any deal that forces a player to stay with a team for a very long time).
-Hope Orlando can pull off some kind of huge trade to make them competitive again.

That's all I got.

EDIT: 1 more:
-Dwight doesn't care about winning.

I don't get how a hard cap, especially a low hard cap, would help Orlando resign Howard. To get under a hard cap Orlando would have to not resign JRich, only add vet min FA's, and possibly salary dump Nelson, Reddick and/or Bass (since they're stuck with Hedo and Arenas). How does that make Orlando more attractive? And it's not like Orlando could pay more - that's not what a hard cap means.
In 2012 Howard would have the choice of
a) playing with Arenas, Hedo and min salary filler in Orlando
b) playing with another elite player and several $2-6M/yr role players (Deron Williams in Brooklyn is one possibility)
c) playing with several solid starters on a decent all-around team missing an elite player (Houston? Denver?)

IMO a true hard cap means Howard is definately gone in 2012

[Wont PerDont]

I voted that there was a chance he would stay. Nobody knows what will come of the new CBA. There might be a built in mechanism to answer this question. So there is a very real possibility that he does stay.

With that being said, if he does go, I think it will be in a S&T to LA for Bynum, or CHI for either Boozer or Noah (ORL can have their choice).

[RutgersBJJ]

When someone can propose a scenario where the Magic somehow improve, then people will debate about Howard staying. Outside of the MLE how are they going to improve their roster? Arenas and Turk are never going to be able to be moved. That is 30 million of cap-space until Turk's deal expires. So what is the Magic's pitch to keep Dwight going to be exactly? Hey Dwight, sorry about building this garbage team around you, maybe if we pity you into staying and guilt trip you, you won't leave us. And then in 2014 when we actually have cap space to change this garbage roster, we promise you we will build you a better team.

Otis Smith backed this team into a corner where the only possible move they could have made was the acquisition of Arenas. I don't know how he still has a job, and no one should blame Howard if he does leave that franchise. Otis Smith has basically done everything in his power to force Howard to leave. Dwight Howard would have to become a better player than Prime Shaq to win a championship with the team around him. So what overpaid player does everyone see the Magic trading for this summer? I'm going with Ben Gordon.

[garrick]

They've never really addressed their pg situation which is a large part of their problems I think but it's not easy getting a star pg especially when you're maxed out on contracts.

[Blame Turk]

depends on what Jameer tells him to do

[Big Shamrock]

I really hope the Celtics make an attempt to get him after next year they only have Rondo/Pierce on contract, so if we could get Dwight that'd hopefully influence either/both KG and Ray to sign on for cheap to ride out into the sunset.

Rondo
Ray
Pierce
KG or Jeff Green
Dwight

one can dream

That team would be ridiculous. Boston would rule the East for at least two-three more years while Lebron-Wade-Bosh keep crying their ways out of the ECF.

A Dwight/KG backcourt would be insane

[Ruhiel]

I really hope the Celtics make an attempt to get him after next year they only have Rondo/Pierce on contract, so if we could get Dwight that'd hopefully influence either/both KG and Ray to sign on for cheap to ride out into the sunset.

Rondo
Ray
Pierce
KG or Jeff Green
Dwight

one can dream

That team would be ridiculous. Boston would rule the East for at least two-three more years while Lebron-Wade-Bosh keep crying their ways out of the ECF.

A Dwight/KG backcourt would be insane

yes it would be but who's gonna defensive rebound and post up?
u mean front court?

[Manocad]

What do the cheerleaders look like in Boston? Because that could play into whether Dwight looks into going that route.

[Shkodran_Plako]

higher chance of me winning the lottery than dwight staying in orlando

[Big Shamrock]

A Dwight/KG backcourt would be insane

yes it would be but who's gonna defensive rebound and post up?
u mean front court?

lol whoops

[Ruhiel]

from the AJC - Orlando Ledbetter talking about the Falcons' draft and slips this gem in:

Blog Crossover, watched the NCAA games with Mike C. He’s getting ready for a long offseason. I’ve heard D. Howard and CP3 want to come here, but the Hawks don’t have any cash left.

"um Joe..."

Joe for expirings

offer $14 mil apiece(ala Miami)
Chris Paul*/Marvin Williams/Josh Smith/Al Horford/Dwight Howard*
Jeff Teague/Al Thornton/Stanley Robinson/Ike Diogu/Zaza Pachulia

[Beebeard]

Nobody here is in his head. He is not LeBron James. He is Dwight Howard. Nobody knows what he will do.

Exactly. He's not LeBron, or Bosh, or Kobe, or Melo, or Deron Williams who complained and either left or asked for a trade.

But since most of the best players in today's game have left or threatened to leave at one time or another, it's likely Howard will to.

Wrong on a ton of counts. Deron Williams just up and got traded. The news came as a shock to him, and he first learned about it watching TV with his friends.

LeBron James didn't demand to be traded, he sneakily signed with another team as a free agent. The Cavs thought they were just as likely as any other team to retain him with a comparable offer. (That's why what James did was so low, is why wouldn't a person just be up front with his former team and tell the front office there that it just isn't working out, instead of stringing them along so we could get televised reaction shots and pretend that the man's decision-making wasn't fully-formed until that morning.)

Kobe demanding a trade ended up being a silly ploy to motivate his teammates and cow the front office. In fact, the only player you mentioned on that list who legitimately "demanded a trade" is Carmelo Anthony, and indeed, he ended up getting exactly the destination and money he wanted.

There are very few examples of NBA stars and borderline stars getting dealt with a prior demand and with consultation. This "superstars demanding trades" thing is very uncommon. Barkley did it and was dealt to the Suns, but I'm having a really hard time thinking of other good examples up until Melo this season. Superstar trades just aren't made very often, but seeing stars screw their old teams in free agency is becoming increasingly commonplace. That's what Dwight Howard will ultimately do when he leaves and the Magic get no value for him, is turn the Magic back into the Florida expansion team it always essentially was from the beginning.

ED: Maybe Kevin McHale's giant favor to his former team, with the KG trade? Would love to see a list of all the superstar transactions since about 1990 to jog the memory.

[BossHoggin]

Next time I'll use green font, I thought the smiley could help you guys but I guess you are a blind as the idiots who can't read a map to tell where Orlando is. And if you think more than 25% of the country knows where Orlando is you need to get out of your rich suburb.

God you're dumb, but all those awful grammatical errors, and the part in bold really tell the tale of how stupid you are. If you seriously think 75% of the people in America don't know where Orlando, Florida is you seriously might win the title for stupidest poster on this board, or you hate America and have no respect for the education system. Whichever one it is you are still (Please Use More Appropriate Word), and you can't read.

yea that is a dumb quote.....who doesn't know where Disney world is?

keep saying whatever you like, just because you are smart doesn't mean everyone is.
And to the genius you quoted, he still doesn't understand that I know where Orlando is. I've been there, I'm not "(Please Use More Appropriate Word)", I was making a point that not everyone in America can use a map.

I couldn't care less if I make grammatical errors, at least I know which allowed, their, whole, whose to use, so I don't sound like I am in 5th grade. There is a difference from being perfect, which is what you should aim for when it matters, and making tiny mistakes, which is what you do when you are on a message board. I made up 25% too, because the number doesn't matter, you shouldn't look it up, you are just wasting your time.

I have no respect for the education system. I went through it and was bored to death. I'm not going to continue on because it doesn't matter if I have an education or not, this is a basketball forum.

Like I said, just because you are blessed to live in an affluent community, does not mean everyone has the same life. To reiterate, I am not talking about myself, I hope you can understand that, and not waste your time making personal attacks. I am pretty brash when I make comments, and that seems to make people like you angry, but there is no need to get upset on an internet message board. My opinion on if Dwight should stay and if Dwight will stay are two different things, I apologize if that offends you. You could always ignore me too if it makes it easier to hide my thoughts.

[jman23]

75 he leaves, 25 he stays

Same

[KGboss]

What do the cheerleaders look like in Boston? Because that could play into whether Dwight looks into going that route.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Wrong on a ton of counts. Deron Williams just up and got traded. The news came as a shock to him, and he first learned about it watching TV with his friends.

Correction, Deron Williams made a hall of fame coach retire, then got traded, after the GM got a sense from his camp that he was looking to move on in the 2012 off season.

There's more than one way to ask for a trade, and Williams was doing just that whether he meant to or not.

[Tommy Udo 6]

Consider: The new CBA may make it much harder for him to leave.

All owners are a little scared that their prime players will want to play on the Heat in order to get the attention & a ring - or they will get with other friends and pick a different destination.

If franchise player tags are allowed, Dwight will have a hard time getting out of Orlando.

[Tuff Gong]

Very minimal chance he stays, IMO, and if he does he's an idiot.

Only the CBA can save Orlando.

[Rockice_8]

Consider: The new CBA may make it much harder for him to leave.

All owners are a little scared that their prime players will want to play on the Heat in order to get the attention & a ring - or they will get with other friends and pick a different destination.

If franchise player tags are allowed, Dwight will have a hard time getting out of Orlando.

I really have a hard time buying into this franchise tag nonsense. If Dwight wants to go to another team then let him. If he wants to stay then stay. He may want to be a Laker or a Rocket or whoever but there is no guarantee the team he wants to go to has the cap space to land him. Orlando doesn't have to S&T him to where he wants to go.

When these guy are FA's there may only be like 2 teams that can outright sign him from ORL. Say it's MEM and Portland (just an example), and if he doesn't want to go to either of them then he has no choice but to resign. It's about time these teams take a stand on these players forcing there way to the team they want. DEN was in a tough spot and so was CLE cause the team the player wanted to go to had the cap space to sign them outright.

This is not the case for Dwight since LA or NY or MIA or CHI or Brooklyn (not saying he wants to be there just an example) can't sign him outright. The Magic have some leverage here. The Nets will have space but I think they are going to spend this offseason and take themselves out of the running. So would Dwight leave to sign with a team he doesn't like to spite ORL who didn't S&T him where he wanted to go IDK, but he doesn't seem to be like a guy like that.