12/18/24
May 31, 2011
Dwight Howard Treats Fans to Barbecue: Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard, hoping to reassure local fans that he's not planning to leave the franchise, hosted a free Memorial Day barbecue at a city park. "I want the Magic to do whatever they can to make sure that we can get our city behind us," Howard said. "That's the only thing that I want to happen: just to have the city behind me and the support of our fans. I never said I was leaving. I never, ever thought about leaving. That's basically where my head is right now."
posted by rcade to basketball at 02:46 PM - 24 comments
Lebron James should have taken a lesson from this guy. I am bummed though as I thought he was on his way to LA.
posted by Atheist at 03:22 PM on May 31, 2011
Ontheotherhand, maybe Dwight knows that he's going to another team and wants to ensure that he doesn't look like the bad guy when he does make his exit.
Just sayin'
posted by BornIcon at 03:29 PM on May 31, 2011
Definitely leaving.
posted by yerfatma at 03:48 PM on May 31, 2011
Yep, those are pity burgers.
posted by tron7 at 04:31 PM on May 31, 2011
If Howard plans to leave, making a big show of staying would make him seem like more of a bad guy. I think he's doing this because his strong preference is to stay in Orlando. He's always been a friendly, fan-focused player. I don't think he's secretly plotting an exit.
posted by rcade at 04:42 PM on May 31, 2011
So much for The Decision II then.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:33 AM on June 01, 2011
He's taking his talents to South Beach.
posted by boredom_08 at 03:28 AM on June 01, 2011
I don't think he's secretly plotting an exit.
If he's 'secretly plotting an exit', wouldn't he want to keep it a secret?
Unless the Magic start surrounding Dwight with players that can help him take some of the load off, I don't see him sticking around no matter how friendly or fan-focused he's been.
posted by BornIcon at 10:06 AM on June 01, 2011
Unless they start? The Magic were in the NBA Finals two years ago. They made aggressive moves after losing that series to improve their team around Howard and were a No. 4 seed this year. This isn't a star player who's been toiling with a bunch of spares.
posted by rcade at 11:00 AM on June 01, 2011
The Magic were in the NBA Finals two years ago.
And what exactly did they do to help Dwight Howard? They traded away Vince Carter for a past his prime (did he ever even actually have a prime?) Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu who they let opt out of his contract after helping them reach the 2009 NBA finals and signed with the Raptors but was playing so horribly that he did everything possible to leave Toronto that he was finally traded to the Suns. They also traded Rashard Lewis to Washington for Gilbert Arenas. Really?!
These names may have meant something 5 years ago but Dwight is a player who hasn't even reached the pinnacle of his career and needs a solid foundation surrounding him or else he's going to be another great player stuck on a mediocre squad.
Isn't that exactly why LeBron took his talents to South Beach?
posted by BornIcon at 11:57 AM on June 01, 2011
They traded away Vince Carter for a past his prime (did he ever even actually have a prime?) Jason Richardson
Jason Richardson was having possibly his best season as a pro before the trade and was playing better than Vince. I didn't realize how poorly Richardson had played with his time in Orlando until I looked at the stats just now. What really jumps out at me is that his shots at the rim got cut in half upon moving to Orlando. Though not as dramatically, Vince's stats went down as well including a drop in shots at the rim. I really can't explain what happened there, just a trade that went bad. Can they trade them back to their original teams?
The Magic were in the NBA Finals two years ago.
Yeah, but the future looks bleak right now. In an attempt to win now they've put themselves underneath some truly awful contracts. A for effort, sure, but Cleveland got one of those too.
posted by tron7 at 01:14 PM on June 01, 2011
Jason Richardson was having possibly his best season as a pro before the trade
I think you can call that the Steve Nash effect.
Throughout his career, Richardson has been inconsistant at best. Some games he's shown flashes of brilliance but then the next game he's downright awful.
posted by BornIcon at 01:29 PM on June 01, 2011
And what exactly did they do to help Dwight Howard?
You answered your own question. They made moves that haven't worked out, but they were actively trying to upgrade an already excellent team. They still go into next season one of the top teams in the East.
posted by rcade at 01:57 PM on June 01, 2011
They made moves that haven't worked out, but they were actively trying to upgrade an already excellent team.
Upgrade? I think you meant disassemble considering that this wasn't even the same team that made the 2009 NBA Finals. IMO, all they needed to do was tweak that squad but for the most part the only constants were Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson from that 2009 Magic team that made that run to the Finals.
You don't think that Dwight Howard is just saying what people of Orlando want to hear in order to not look like he did everything he could to stay with the Magic but management just didn't surround him with the talent that could help him win?
posted by BornIcon at 02:13 PM on June 01, 2011
The Magic decided they needed to do more than tweak the roster after 2009, and I think they were probably right. Teams that stand pat often fade.
posted by rcade at 02:20 PM on June 01, 2011
They still go into next season one of the top teams in the East.
That's not saying much about his supporting cast. Is there a team that wouldn't be a top team in the East with Dwight Howard at center? Maybe the Wizards, that is a profoundly stupid team.
I think you can call that the Steve Nash effect.
Yeah, and I think Richardson has a harder time creating his own shot than Vince does so he struggled when he went to a team with more half court sets and less people creating for him. I don't think that makes him a bad player, I think his optimum place to play is an offense like Phoenix's.
posted by tron7 at 02:29 PM on June 01, 2011
The Magic decided they needed to do more than tweak the roster after 2009, and I think they were probably right.
Com'on now, you don't really believe that do you?
The Magic organization took a team that went to the NBA Finals and basically blew them up and expected them to go into the 2010 season and repeat what the 2009 team did.
No matter which way you look at it, they were unfortunately and unintentionally set up to fail.
posted by BornIcon at 03:17 PM on June 01, 2011
Teams that stand pat often fade.
The Pistons are a great example of that.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 03:17 PM on June 01, 2011
The Pistons are a great example of that.
The Pistons actually won a championship though.
posted by BornIcon at 03:18 PM on June 01, 2011
So there was no place to go but down.
posted by rocketman at 03:29 PM on June 01, 2011
The Magic organization took a team that went to the NBA Finals and basically blew them up and expected them to go into the 2010 season and repeat what the 2009 team did.
It's easy to go back with benefit of hindsight and judge their trades. At the time they were viewed positively. They didn't blow up the team for salary reasons. They added talent in exchange for talent and replaced Hedo after letting him go in a cash trade instead of resigning him. Then they got Hedo back.
Getting back to the original point, I don't think anyone can say the Magic hasn't tried to put a championship team around Howard. They're doing everything they can, given their resources and their salary cap situation.
posted by rcade at 04:19 PM on June 01, 2011
The Orlando Magic are fine. They don't need much defending. They've been to the conference finals for two of the last three years. Certainly, Howard can be the #2 man on some other team and chase a championship like Lebron. Should he try to get on one of the aging teams and hope they make the necessary moves?Why? He has a great chance of waiting for the final touches in Orlando. But, given his "start own path" comments, I think he wants to try to bring in players to play around him. It's an attractive option - Florida and you get to play with Howard, who is only 25 years old.
posted by bperk at 04:52 PM on June 01, 2011
The problem with the Magic is they're always carrying expensive dead veteran weight. Rashard Lewis. Vince Carter. Hedo all over again. Jason Richardson. Gilbert Arenas. It prevents them from getting a star player because a significant part of their cap is always locked up in guys who can't give them a consistent 18+ points a night.
What they've needed the whole time is a legitimate, no-question running partner for D12. Lewis was a poor first choice (given his skillset includes shooting and icing his knees), Vince wasn't worth the contract and the other players on this list aren't guys you can trust to bring it night in, night out. Imagine Chris Paul or Deron Williams in Orlando. They can't do it, because they've got $27.5 million in Hedo and Arenas next year, and the year after that, and they'll be a good, but not great, team.
posted by dfleming at 07:49 PM on June 01, 2011
Please, Magic, don't mess this up! I still haven't recovered from the Shaq fiasco.