The 5 Best/Funnest/Most intriguing Places for Dwight Howard

I moved to the Orlando/Daytona area almost 5 years ago now. As a northeastern transplant, naturally i was raised on Big East basketball, inundated by Yankeees/Red Sox propaganda(as a Met fan no less) and caught in the tri-state love triangle that is Patriots/Giants/Jets(not in that order). My newfound locale offered nothing short of SEC football, high school football, Nascar, and more SEC football. Although The SEC has won 5 str8 National titles since my arrival (you're welcome guys!) and Florida won back to back titles in basketball in 2006-2007 seasons, sports seemed boring without a relevant pro team. Especially in my favorite sport, basketball. And then something funny happened! Basketball fever started to spread around Central Florida, and not just because of the Gators basketball achievements. The Orlando Magic started to make waves on the NBA transactions pages.

- First they tried to sign Billy Donovan, coach of the aforementioned 2-time champion Gators. I mean they DID sign him but he changed his mind and returned to Florida, presumably with a raise.

- Soon after, they hired former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy who was forced to step down by Pat Riley resigned from Miami early in the previous year to "spend time with his family".

- Next, they showered Free Agent Small Forward Rashard Lewis with a 6-year deal rumored to be between 110 and 126 million, i believe. If it seems like alot, and it is, Orlando had its reasons for the bold number. A little insight into the deal from Orlando's perspective:
   The NBA 2007 Free Agency Crop was lite to say the least, but Rashard Lewis' combination of age, position scarcity and previous production made him a sought after player. Considered the best player in Free Agency(Along with Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups) Orlando knew it would have to take an almost  max-level bid darn near to get a supposed premier player entering his prime. They had the bucks, and they also had ....

    
     An emerging center entering his 4th season and looking every bit the part. NBA legend says that you can't win without a dominant big man, and players will follow a dominant Big, as he will make everything easier, or something like that. Dwight Howard was becoming a big draw and having made a push for the playoffs to end the 2006-07 season(though ultimately missing out) the Magic,internally, felt they were on the cusp of something with he and their other 2004 1st rounder, PG Jameer Nelson.

After a tumultuous start to the decade, the hard-working but injury-riddled Doc Rivers' teams featuring T-Mac and Grant Hill;The 2nd run with Brian Hill that didn't end so well, hampered by malcontent Steve Francis, yielded the trade for Penny, and ultimately Darko in a failed rebuild on-the-run. Fast-Forward to the 2007-2008 season and Orlando looked like a team on the come-up. Young cornerstones in Howard and Nelson, a  young SGs  who was a specialist (2nd year guard JJ Redick). A star free-agent in Lewis, and plenty of complementary parts. After being knocked out by the Pistons in the 2nd round in 2008, the core finally peaked in 2009, making the finals with a big assist from trade acquisition Rafer Alston, who filled in admirably, maybe better than Nelson. Although they lost to the Lakers in 5 games, the series was much closer than it appeared and may have been different if he had just made this lay-up. AGAIN!

However, the last 2 seasons, Orlando has failed to recreate the Magic. The mismatch offense of Turkoglu and Lewis that caused so many problems before didn't work in its newer incarnation. Rafer, Battie and Courtney Lee were all jettisoned after the Finals loss.Out went Turkoglu, In came Vince, Brandon Bass. Out went Vince, In came Turkoglu again. In came Jason Richardson. Out went Lewis, in case Arenas, guns a blazing! 

These moves look to the outside like pushing the panic button. And this has only ratcheted up the pressure to keep Dwight happy. A revolving door of ex-allstar teammates and defensive liabilities has left him overworked and overburdened. All early reports reports have Howard headed to Hollywood in Shaq Part 2. Though the blogosphere is flooded today with stories about him here or there.

Now publicly Howard has professsed that he is open to staying in Orlando, even going so far as to say that the writers in Orlando are pushing him out of town. He just wants time to make a decision. Understandable, but i don't have time so here are the 5 best/funnest/most intriguing places for D12 to land. Disclaimer: These are not the best fit necessarily, nor did i consult the trade machine to see if if fits financially, with exemptions and blah blah blah. I did it the old fashioned way, with a few knowledge of the rules and my imagination! Legggoooooo....

1) Clippers Get Dwight Howard
    Magic get Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, Deandre Jordan and Minnesota 2012 1st rounder


- Clippers get what the Lakers(and everybody else want) and vault ahead of the Lakers in the race for the rest of the decade/future. They get to build around Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard. A young, balanced BIG 3 if you will.

-The Magic get a big jumpstart on the rebuild, with the prize being the draft pick, a potentially HUGE one in a draft that is said to be loaded. Aminu, 20 and Bledsoe, 21 are raw but due to their youth still have potential to grow. Deandre Jordan, 22,  is the answer to the length that Orlando so desperately needs to receive back in the deal, hence why they liked the Bynum deal supposedly. If getting rid of Jordan is a hangup for the Clippers, they can always include Chris Kaman instead.

2) Thunder get Dwight Howard
    Magic Get Russell Westbrook,Kendrick Perkins, Thunder 2012 1st round and 2014 1st round

- The Thunder get a real young defensive anchor(sorry, Kendrick) and an inside scoring presence that they've lacked. Coupled with Ibaka and Collison on defense and Kevin Durant for an unstoppable offensive inside-outside combo. I mean, who do you double team?

- Westbrook is as physically imposing a point guard as there is in the game, but there are many questions about his playmaking abilities and pure point guard skills. So put him next to undersized Mighty Mite Jameer Nelson and use him as an attacking two guard in a free-wheeling Orlando O. Kendrick Perkins can try to help offset the loss of the reigning Defensive Player of Year.

3) Nets get Dwight Howard
    Magic get Brook Lopez and New Jersey's 2012 and 2014 1st rd

- I'm definitely not comparing Lopez to Howard, but there are only a few true centers in the game, and he is one of them, young and still developing at that. Magic could do much worse. New Jersey would get  not only an all-world center, but a marquee name and running mate for newly-acquired Deron Williams, as they give their franchise a facelift upon their arrival in Brooklyn in '13

4) Bulls get Dwight Howard
    Magic get Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Bulls 2011 1st rd pick

- I must let you know  you know upfront that I'm a Bulls fan, so this gets me giddy. I mean come on, one star closer to the constellation that is the Miami Heat, right? And even though Noah is the heart and soul of the Bulls, he comes with limitations. Also, Howard will bring to the table all that he does, save for interior passing as Joakim is as good as any. Boozer's contract in itself would prolly nullify this deal, but like i said its my exercise and i can do what i want.

5) Warriors get Dwight Howard
    Magic get Monta Ellis, David Lee,  Epke Udoh, and Golden State's 2012 1st round pick  

- Doesn't really work for either team, but as a fan to see the super athletic Howard in a fast-paced offense. Im sure he'd rather stay in Orlando, but Imagine the possibilities, and the amount of rebounds he'd grab a game, might average 20 lol!

Honorable mention goes to Knicks( i couldnt make up any trade without giving away STAT or MELO, knicks have nothing). Hornets: Cause they have Chris Paul and Noone else does; and Orlando(but nobody is thinking of them)