Chuck:Losing five of their last six, the Orlando Magic turned their lineup upside down. When the dust settled the Magic had traded Vince Carter, Michael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Rashard Lewis, a first round pick and cash considerations. In return they received Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark. That is a lot of names. A total of eight players moved in the two trades in which the Magic essentially traded away their their starting shooting guard and small forward as well as their backup center and back up forward. When looking quickly at the names a person might wonder if the Magic are any better? Turkoglu hasn't been able to return to his 2007 form, Richardson is no better than average on defense, and Arenas.... is well Arenas and comes with a two year deal which is due to pay him 37 million dollar deal this season. The Magic did this trade for one reason: Dwight Howard.
It has spread like wildfire in the NBA that you cannot win a title with only one star. As the Celtics set the precedent making the big three; the Miami Heat followed. As trade talks with the Hornets for a Chris Paul deal failed and things fell through with the Knicks for Carmelo Anthony the Magic had to do something to keep their 25 year old center happy. Orlando cannot waste away the prime of Howard's career as the rest of the east stack up. Carter was aging, Pietrus is irrelevant on offense and there has been whispers about why Brandon Bass (13.9 ppg, 6.1rpg in December) doesn't start over Rashard Lewis as it is. The only real value lost was the 26 year old Goratat who was their backup center to their superstar anyways. The last thing the Magic want is Howard jumping on the next flight and going to team up with a buddy, or telling the media he is not happy with losing every game in the super-competitive, top-heavy eastern conference.
The winner of the eastern conference will come from the formula of getting every star you can on one roster (Miami or Boston). The Magic did this so Dwight knows they are trying and want to build their team around his presence. The problem is the new formula is better than the old one. Howard may only temporarily be happy, but at least it is better than nothing.
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