The State of the Orlando Magic and the NBA Trade Deadline

The trend of the last few years in the NBA has been for superstars to either leave their teams for better situations or to threaten to leave their teams until they get what they want. Recently, general managers have seemed to learn from the mistakes of teams like Cleveland and Toronto, who received practically nothing in return when Lebron and Bosh left for Miami.

For example, the Jazz shipped Deron Williams out of town for two first round picks, Derrick Favors, and Devin Harris. Also, the Nuggets got rid of Carmelo Anthony for Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler in what seemed to be a solid package put together by the Knicks.

However, because of the new CBA, the Magic is in a unique scenario. They have the potential to offer Dwight Howard a maximum salary of 5 years $110 million, whereas all other teams can only offer 4 years and $81 million. He’ll be making a lot of money either way, but giving up $30 million and an extra year is difficult, no matter how you look at it. If the Magic can find some way to bring in a viable sidekick for Dwight (rumors about Monta Ellis have been swirling this week), than that should be their first option. If that doesn’twork out than they should look to trade him but only if they are getting a great package in return, something that exceeds what the Jazz and Nuggets got for their superstars.

Dwight is a once-in-a-lifetime big man, and it’d be better for the Magic to take their chances in free agency rather than trade Dwight for players and picks that will make them a lower-level playoff team. As the NBA becomes more perimeter and guard-oriented, the Magic possess a distinct advantage in having such a dominant big man. They shouldn’t give up that advantage unless they have a really strong feeling that he’s leaving in the summer.