tiderulz wrote:WeAreVenom wrote:I'm looking up old articles on this, and it looks like the Magic played their part in this as well. Which isn't hard to believe......Dwight has his faults but lord knows this Organization is guilty of doing some things, as well.
I know this might be an unpopular opinion around here right now, but I would really love for Dwight to finish his career here in some fashion. I know for a fact that he was actively involved and engaged in the community, and I feel he really cared for Orlando while he was here. I've heard stories of people running into him out and about all the time. And I think if we were all being honest, we'd agree on that part, at least.
My favorite Magic player of all time. I can finally admit it (to myself more than anyone) now that we're far enough removed from the "Dwightmare" saga.
"played their part?"
-he wanted players, they got players
-went over the tax to get him the best fits that were available
-he wanted one of the best coaches the Magic ever had fired, they fired him
-they kowtowed to his every whim, protected his sneaky baby-mama ways from the media
Dwight, is this you asking for a way back?
That's true, we did acquiesce to him (just like any team would to a star of his calibur), but we've had our screw ups as well.
Telling the world that he asked for a trade at the start of the season, for one. Then turning around and telling SVG that he asked for him to be fired is another. Extremely unprofessional. Not saying Howard is absolved, but we played our part as well.
-he wanted players, they got playersDid we though? An over the hill Vince, then an over the hill Richardson and a decrepit Arenas (on literally the most ridiculous contract in the NBA at the time) isn't exactly what he meant, I'm sure. Then on top of that, that Arenas contract was a nightmare of it's own. That was a result of Otis being friends with Gilbert. Dwight never played with anyone near his caliber while he was here. Not to say we didn't try (Chris Paul comes to mind), but we didn't succeed.
-went over the tax to get him the best fits that were availableToo far over the cap considering was we got back. Richardson and Arenas? And a bloated Hedo on a bloated contact. Let's make no mistake, this team was doomed. Otis had effectively sent us to hell with that trade. Ironically, even Dwight leaving allowed us to free up cap room, and we got Vuc and Harris in his departure.
-he wanted one of the best coaches the Magic ever had fired, they fired himThis was part of cleaning house, though. I fully believe at this time we already knew we were trading Dwight, and just decided that we were going to rebuild from the ground up (which was a great idea btw). I do agree though, Stan is the best coach we've ever had.
-they kowtowed to his every whim, protected his sneaky baby-mama ways from the mediaMeh, any player of his calibur would have gotten the same treatment from any team. Lakers to Kobe, Cavs to Lebron, etc. When you're in the top 1% of your field you're going to get some allowances. Even outside of sports.
Fact is, yall, there is no reason to be mad at Dwight still. Could he have done it better? Absolutely. Could we have done it better? Absolutely. He had the right to request a trade, and if we traded him at the start of the season like he asked, I guarantee we would have gotten a lot for him. However, we gambled (despite having already pissed him off by telling the world he asked for a trade) and lost.
I mean, really, is there any reason for a f****** GM to get on National Television and announce that his star player requested a trade? It wasn't even a leak, he came out and told the world. Same thing with Stan, what was the point of announcing that he asked for you to be fired? All this did was create more discord. Extremely unprofessional behavior, from both of them. Looking back, they had to be split up. I bet Otis was the one who told Stan Dwight asked for him to be fired.
I'm over Dwight tbh.
