Dwight’s Magic Word

• Dwight Howard, waiving the early termination option in his contract (which means he’ll remain with the Orlando Magic for one more season), and the Magic have some marriage counseling to do. The onus now is on Orlando to improve the roster, in the hopes of convincing Dwight to stay for the long haul.
• Loyalty is a big reason why Dwight is sticking around with the Magic for a little while longer.
• After flip-flopping between staying or going, Dwight had one last change of heart by the time he landed in Orlando early Thursday morning after the team played the San Antonio Spurs on the road. General manager Otis Smith advised Dwight to sleep on the decision. Dwight remained steadfast in his choice after doing so.
• CEO Alex Martins, seen as the right man for the job, re-recruited Dwight to stay with Orlando for another year. Martins’ hard work paid off.
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The issue is this: How will Howard feel after an offseason in which the same people are in his ear again, the ones who were pushing him to go to a bigger market? [...] Howard needs to take control of his world, and maybe he will start doing that by splitting with agent Dan Fegan, whom he hired to get him out of Orlando without this muss and fuss. He needs to get away to some island this offseason and really decide what he wants.”
• Dwight’s future with the Magic captivated a nationwide, and perhaps worldwide, audience.
• Is Orlando, able to win games and beat some of the best teams in the NBA despite the trade turmoil surrounding Dwight, a team of destiny?
• During today’s press conference, in which he announced his intentions to remain a member of the Magic for an additional season, Dwight branded himself as a loyal person. That loyalty makes Dwight different from many of today’s NBA stars. Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated goes as far to say that Dwight is “establishing himself to become the anti-LeBron.”
• By trading for Gerald Wallace at the deadline, the New Jersey Nets are trying to keep Deron Williams around so that they still have a shot at signing Dwight in 2013. It’s a big gamble to say the least.
• Dwyane Wade uses Twitter to share his opinion on loyalty.
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie writes that Magic fans are guaranteed one more year of drama with Dwight: “All he did was commit to picking up his contract option for 2012-13. He can still leave in 2013. He can still ask for a trade, behind the scenes. He can still make life — off-court life, at least — untenable for the Orlando Magic franchise. Unless Howard signs that extension, this isn’t over.”
• There’s still a chance, albeit a small one, that Dwight lands with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent in 2013.
• Larry Coon, author of the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQ, lays out all of Dwight’s contract possibilities at TrueHoop.
• The possibility that Dwight and Chris Paul team up — in 2013 — is still very real. Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com explains: “If they so desired, Paul and Howard could join forces in any number of destinations, including Los Angeles — a city Howard reportedly likes a whole lot — or Orlando. For the Magic, it would be relatively simple. They’ll have a glut of cap space because Jameer Nelson’s contract comes off the books, and the final year of Hedo Turkoglu’s deal is unguaranteed.”
• How did Orlando convince Dwight to stick around? By threatening to trade him to the Nets, a team that’s struggling to make the playoffs. That would have impacted Dwight in a number of ways (like his off-court ventures). J.A. Adande of ESPN.com applauds the Magic’s gumption: “A league source said that missing out on the playoffs would cost Howard significant bonuses from his Adidas contract. What a great play by the Magic. It seemed to drive home the point they were trying to make all along, that if Howard wants to win a championship the Magic are about as good a short- and mid-term option as he’s got.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Howard had flip-flopped worse than a presidential candidate the last 48 hours between wanting to stay with the Magic and wanting to keep his free agent options open.”
• There’s a ripple effect around the league now that Dwight is still with the Magic. Teams like New Jersey and Dallas, potential suitors for Dwight, are obviously affected but they’re not the only ones.
• Marcel Mutoni of SLAM ONLINE with the line of the day regarding Dwight’s indecisiveness: “Dwight Howard is a confused young man.”
• Some quotes from Dwight’s presser.
• Ethan Sherwood Strauss of CourtVision doesn’t think Dwight should be blamed for being indecisive about his future: This is not Dwight Howard’s fault. He did not create the collective bargaining agreement. He did not create the 24-hour news cycle. He did not foster a confusing system in which the most interesting “news” is funneled to us via conflicting anonymous sources.”
• Dwight: “I’m going to go home, and play a video game.” This was said after Dwight was asked what he was going to do after his press conference today was over.
• A must-read breakdown by Andrew Sharp of SB Nation on those involved in the Dwight drama.
• Should Orlando still trade Dwight? Tom Ziller of SB Nation thinks so: “Recent NBA history has shown that the packages offered for trading a superstar with at least a year left on his deal are much better than for rentals. The Jazz did it with Deron Williams. The Hornets did it with Chris Paul (who waived his own early termination option in the Clippers deal). Howard’s waiver [...] lets the Magic effectively rewind a calendar and make a blockbuster that sets Orlando up for the future … the post-Howard future.”

Monday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “After eight seasons of being tied to one franchise, you can understand why Howard relishes the prospect of becoming a free agent. He loves the spotlight and loves being courted, as everyone saw when the Magic beat the New Jersey Nets in Newark, N.J., on Feb. 22. Howard and his advisers view free agency as an opportunity that a player will have only once, maybe twice, when he is in his prime. So why not make the most of it? Why not listen to as many sales pitches as possible? Why not enjoy free agency and the spotlight?”
• In that link, Robbins provides plenty of insight. He explains whether or not Dwight Howard-to-Miami, the latest rumor to pop up, is an actual possibility.
• With games against the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, and Dallas Mavericks coming up in the next few weeks, the Magic are going to be tested. Whether or not Dwight will be there to help them, with the trade deadline on Thursday, remains to be seen.
• David Aldridge of NBA.com believes that the Magic, fearing what happened with Shaquille O’Neal in 1996 and not wanting to lose their franchise center for nothing (again), will trade Dwight by the deadline. There’s also the matter of filling the seats at Amway Center with a competitive team on display. Rebuilding is likely not an option for Orlando, which may determine what they receive in a deal if they decide to move Dwight.
• This week, with regards to figuring out what to do with Dwight, is one of the most important in franchise history for Orlando.
• Did you know that the Magic are one of only five teams (the Chicago Bulls, Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder are the others) in the NBA to post a winning record in each month of the regular season so far? Now you do.
• At Orlando Pinstriped Post, Evan Dunlap has put together a trade deadline primer (Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV) to examine the Magic’s assets. His roster breakdown is a must-read.
• Orlando had a vintage performance against the Indiana Pacers in yesterday’s game.
• Amidst a report from Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, in which he said Dwight is interested in the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami, Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk just wants all the rumors to stop.
• Helin also believes that if the Magic keep Dwight beyond March 15, they’ll invariably get crushed in the second round of the playoffs. I have to slightly disagree with Helin’s sentiment. Orlando may lose in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, perhaps to the Heat or Bulls, but to suggest they’ll get “crushed” is a bit much.
• Josh Smith comments on Dwight’s future. Smith is a close friend of Dwight’s.
• Roy Hibbert was at Dwight’s mercy in last night’s game.
• It remains to be seen if the Magic will get trade offers good enough to make them seriously consider trading Dwight. For now, more rumors will populate the internet.
• What would a trade between Orlando and Chicago look like? And what would the roster dynamics be for both teams? Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated attempts to answer some of those questions.
• If it was up to Kenny Smith, he wouldn’t trade LeBron James or Dwyane Wade for Dwight.
• The Pacers wilted to the Redick-Howard pick-and-roll.
• Tom Ziller of SB Nation keeps it short and to the point: “These are the Orlando Magic: losing to the Charlotte Bobcats and beating the Chicago Bulls in the very same week. These are the Orlando Magic.”

Friday’s Magic Word

• The Orlando Magic have a habit of amassing double-digit leads against opposing teams, then squander them and lose the game. It happened against the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday. It happened against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. The difference is that the Magic held on to beat the Bulls.
• General manager Otis Smith used to make shrewd moves before committing a recent calamity of errors in trying to keep Dwight around long-term.
• Could Orlando strike lightning in a bottle twice, get hot in the playoffs with their three-point shooting, and make another surprise appearance in the NBA Finals like in 2009? Bill Simmons of Grantland thinks so.
• The Magic were happy and all smiles after beating Chicago on the road.
• Marc Stein of ESPN.com has a ton of goodies in his Weekend Dime about Orlando. Stein touches on a variety of topics, but perhaps the freshest piece of news is that the Magic are shopping Turkoglu … and not in a trade package with Dwight.
• If Dwight is traded at the deadline, the complexion of the NBA could change completely.
• Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus asks: “Which teams have improved their winning percentage the most after the deadline in the 2000?” Orlando makes the list, but it’s probably not the team you’re thinking of.
• With 3:47 left in the game between the Magic and Bulls, Hedo Turkoglu got whistled for a technical foul after he grabbed referee Karl Lane in dispute of a no-call. Turkoglu ran a 3/5 pick-and-roll with Dwight, then dribble penetrated into the lane and went up for a layup. However, Joakim Noah slapped the ball away and it went off Turkoglu’s leg. Turkoglu argued for a foul call but to no avail. Given that he made physical contact with Lane, there’s a good chance that Turkoglu will be suspended for one game. UPDATE: It’s official.
• Dwight is at the center of all the trade talk.
• Derrick Rose cares about winning. Dwight cares about building up his brand.
• Matt McHale of By the Horns wonders aloud, “Do the Chicago Bulls need Dwight Howard?”
• There’s stark differences in the roster makeup of Orlando and Chicago.
• The Magic brass are split on what to do with Dwight.
• If Orlando does move Dwight at the trade deadline, they’re seeking a package similar to what the Denver Nuggets received for Carmelo Anthony last season.
• Superman Lives.
• Glen Davis was proud of Dwight’s performance against the Bulls and tweeted as such.
• When LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers, his departure created an earthquake that could be felt throughout the NBA landscape. The same thing could happen if Dwight leaves the Magic.
• Orlando netted a big win against an elite team.
• Chris Duhon enjoys playing the air guitar.
• A GIF of Turkoglu’s tech.
• Glen Davis’ midrange jump shooting is painful to watch sometimes.
• If the Magic think that a win over Chicago will mean much in the grand scheme of things, with regards to convincing Dwight to stay, they may be sadly mistaken.
• John Hollinger of ESPN Insider has an interesting trade idea: “Michael Beasley, Daniel Orton, Justin Harper, Anthony Randolph and Orlando’s first-round pick to Milwaukee; J.J. Redick, Beno Udrih and the rights of Fran Vazquez to Minnesota; Jon Brockman, J.J. Barea and Ersan Ilyasova to Orlando.”

Thursday’s Magic Word

• The Orlando Magic will have to do a lot of things to put themselves in a position to beat the Chicago Bulls in tonight’s game — like stopping or slowing down the Bulls’ transition game.
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan would be the first guy to tell you that there are far more important things in life then a game. He’s 52 and now has had chest pains. A former coach told me that Stan might want to think about taking a sabbatical, step away for a while. I can’t see Van Gundy doing that at the moment, especially since he has been cleared by doctors, but I hope he takes this signal seriously.”
• He doesn’t do them as often as he used to but spurred on by the local media in Chicago, Dwight Howard did impersonations of Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Pretty funny.
• There’s a lot of theories surrounding Dwight’s disinterest in wanting to join the Chicago Bulls. Some think it’s the weather. Some think adidas would prefer Dwight play in a different market. Some think he doesn’t want to share the spotlight with Derrick Rose.
• More on Dwight wanting to be “the guy.”
• The Magic are in pursuit of Michael Beasley.
• The odds that Dwight is traded at the deadline are low. If Orlando decides not to trade Dwight, Chad Ford of ESPN Insider feels it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t join the New Jersey Nets as a free agent if he exercises the early termination option in his contract.
• On March 15, Dwight will be traded or he won’t be.
• Ken Berger of CBSSports.com with a must-read piece on Dwight’s future with the Magic. That $30 million advantage Orlando has? Berger says it’s overrated: “The total difference over the next six seasons, as outlined here, is more like $10 million. What’s more, Howard — like fellow stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony — likely would request an opt-out after four years in any five-year deal he might enter into with Orlando. That effectively nullifies the Magic’s advantage of being able to offer an extra year.”
• No one is sure what Orlando will do with Dwight.
• A roadmap of what might happen with Dwight (and Deron Williams) in the coming months if he’s not traded at the deadline.
• Endorsements ultimately didn’t play a hand in LeBron James deciding upon the Miami Heat when he was a free agent in 2010. They may affect Dwight’s decision though.
• Is Dwight a player worth trading for?

Wednesday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Magic CEO Alex Martins and GM Otis Smith say the team has not made a decision about what it will do with Howard as the NBA trade deadline approaches on March 15. Smith said that a decision might not be made until shortly before the deadline. It’s clear that Martins is trying to convince Howard to stay, and all indications are that the Magic are trying to add a quality player to their roster in an attempt to sway their superstar center.”
• Also in that link, Robbins explains that there’s even the possibility of Dwight Howard not exercising his early termination option after the season is over.
• Dwight has high praise for Bismack Biyombo. This after Biyombo held Dwight to 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the floor last night.
• Jim Rome rips Magic fans for producing a music video in which they’re begging Dwight to stay.
• Dwight and the Orlando Magic may be taking the suspense out of the trade deadline. The Magic just might stand pat instead of trading Dwight.
• Somehow, someway, Biyombo generally outplayed Dwight in yesterday’s game.
• Orlando had no business losing to the Charlotte Bobcats, a team with the worst record in the NBA, but that’s what happened.
• Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com with a question that probably everything is asking: “Charlotte, the NBA’s worst offense, seemingly scored at will, with Corey Maggette getting to the foul line 11 times and Gerald Henderson tossing in 16 points, including some big late buckets. Do the Magic even care?”
• “Get Steve Nash to Orlando.”
• What is owner Rich DeVos thinking right now?
• The Magic blew a 20-point lead in their loss against the Bobcats. Biyombo’s defense on Dwight had much to do with that.
• Looking back at the Rafer Alston trade.
• The New Jersey Nets are swinging for the fences by zeroing on Dwight and nothing else. It remains to be seen whether or not that strategy will pay off.
• Danny Nowell writes that Orlando can’t afford to lose against teams like the Bobcats if they want to convince Dwight to stick around long-term.

Tuesday’s Magic Word

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel ran into head coach Stan Van Gundy at the airport in Toronto. Van Gundy was waiting to board a plane heading to Charlotte. Why didn’t he travel with the Orlando Magic? According to Van Gundy, he stayed at Mount Sinai Hospital overnight because he was having chest pains.
• Van Gundy is okay after experiencing chest pains.
• Schmitz: “Is Dwight still leading on the Magic eight days before the deadline? Is he still this conflicted? My guess is, being around the Magic, is that he hasn’t changed his stance: He still wants to explore free agency. Neither Howard nor the Magic want to deliver the bad news until they have to. Until they’ve exhausted the last few days of perhaps trying to talk Howard out of leaving. Until they have a deal for Howard they like.”
• In that same link, general manager Otis Smith reveals that six to eight teams are still calling about Dwight in hopes of acquiring him at the trade deadline.
• Dwight should know by now that the Magic are committed to winning at all costs.
• Tonight, Orlando plays a really bad team in the Charlotte Bobcats.
• It appears that Fran Vazquez, drafted by the Magic in the 2005 NBA Draft and playing for FCB Regal in Spain right now, may be appear poised to join the team next season. Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie explains what that may mean for Orlando moving forward.
• Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports with a must-read piece on Orlando’s current predicament with Dwight: “Several sources who’ve known Howard for years believe his hesitancy with Orlando management has helped validate Martins’ hope of re-signing him. As one of those sources said, ‘Don’t underestimate how much it means to Dwight to be a pillar in that community. Everyone else wants to pull him out of there, but I’m not so sure that’s where his heart is.’ ”
• J.J. Redick hit a clutch three-pointer in last night’s game against the Toronto Raptors to help the Magic come away with a victory on the road.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “We cannot emphasize this enough — the Orlando Magic’s primary goal is to keep Dwight Howard in Orlando. Magic CEO Alex Martins is doing everything short of begging (actually, he’d probably do that, too) to convince Howard to stay. That stems from a real desire to keep him and to show Magic fans that they did try if Howard is traded. Bottom line: Until word comes down from owner Richard DeVos to move Howard — something he is reluctant to do — nothing is going to happen.”
• Another recap of Orlando’s win against the Raptors yesterday.
• Matt Moore of CBSSports.com wasn’t impressed with the Magic struggling to beat Toronto.
• Stay Dwight.
• “Smith’s phone should be ringing off the hook!”
• Dwight and Ryan Anderson have been two of the main reasons why Orlando is 25-14 and ranked No. 3 in the Eastern Conference as of today.

Monday’s Magic Word

• A list of NBA teams that might rent Dwight Howard.
• J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas of The Basketball Jones were in Orlando for All-Star Weekend. What did they do while they were in the City Beautiful? Compete in various NBA Jam Session activities, of course. A must-watch video.
• Is it possible the Magic might keep Dwight at the deadline instead of trade him? If David Aldridge of NBA.com says it’s a possibility, it probably is.
• It’s no secret that Nelson has struggled this season. It seems evident that Dwight clamoring to play with a better point guard like Deron Williams has affected Nelson mentally. Yet there’s signs that he’s starting to snap out of it and play better basketball.
• After returning from a broken right foot after missing the first 32 games of the regular season, Brook Lopez suffered a sprained right ankle on Sunday against the Charlotte Bobcats. Will his injury affect the New Jersey Nets’ ability to acquire Dwight at the trade deadline?
• According to a report, Orlando has almost no shot of acquiring Steve Nash or Monta Ellis in a trade. The reason? Lack of assets.
• Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “If you believe the GM grapevine: After an 11-4 February, Orlando is serious about rolling the dice and keeping Dwight past the trading deadline, figuring that a 10 percent chance of changing his mind (but also potentially losing him for nothing in free agency) beats what they can get in a trade for him.”
• Ryan Anderson has outproduced his WARP projection by a mile. Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider cautions that Anderson’s WARP number will likely fall back to earth just a bit.
• The league is on Dwight watch.
• If the Magic want to trade Dwight but still make the playoffs, they may want to wait until the very last second (for what it’s worth, Basketball-Reference gives Orlando a 100 percent chance of making the postseason).
• If they decide to move Dwight at the trade deadline, which bad contract — between Glen Davis and Hedo Turkoglu — is Orlando better off unloading?

Tuesday’s Magic Word

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Mar. 15: It’s the NBA trade deadline, and it either could be the worse day for Magic fans since Shaq left in 1996 or the best, depending if Howard reverses field as the saga plays out this summer. Or Magic fans might be welcoming a new player or two. Mar. 16: Call it karma or fate, whatever. But if Howard is traded to New Jersey, guess what? The Magic’s first game after the trade deadline is against…. the Nets. How cruel. It could be Howard’s first game against his former team — and at Amway Center, of all places. You couldn’t make this stuff up. Magic boo-birds surely would let him have it, a night that might require extra security at the arena. Imagine Bynum wearing a Magic jersey. Or Howard could still be with the Magic, meaning he could be playing out the string until he becomes a free agent, possibly leaving the Magic with no compensation.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “While the weekly and sometimes daily conversations between Howard and Williams might concern some Magic fans because of their desire to play together – possibly with the Nets – Howard insists that the two are just friends. They became confidants in 2008 while playing for Team USA in the Summer Olympics and have talked basketball, life and other issues regularly. But the two friends will be enemies Wednesday night when the Magic (21-12) face the Nets (10-24) at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first time that Howard has played in New Jersey since issuing an early-season trade request that included the Nets as one of his preferred destinations.”
• The odds that the Los Angeles Lakers trade for Dwight Howard at the deadline are “slim and none” according to a source that spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com for a story.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “It seems odd to criticize Dwight Howard after a 28 point, 16 rebound performance — which included him stealing the ball from Brandon Jennings and scoring on the one-man fast break at one point — but we can’t help ourselves. His defensive effort is inconsistent. He is so talented he puts up numbers, but it’s hard to watch him and think he is fully invested. Ryan Anderson had the go-ahead three for the Magic in what was a close game. Jennings had 22 for the Bucks.”
• Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated with midseason grades for all 30 NBA teams. The Orlando Magic get a B+ from Robson: “Orlando has made the best of a bad situation. The pivotal moment came after a 1-5 stretch in late January, which included an 87-56 loss at Boston, a 93-67 defeat at lowly New Orleans and blowing a 27-point lead at home against the Celtics. At 12-9 and in the midst of what coach Stan Van Gundy called the worst stretch of his five-year tenure, the team could have packed it in and waited for the trading deadline to resolve Dwight Howard’s lame-duck status. Instead, the Magic have won nine of 12 to thrust themselves back into position for home-court advantage in the playoffs. It is still possible that Orlando, knowing it needs to get something in return for its superstar center, will deal Howard by March 15. But both the player and the franchise can feel good about the way they are potentially closing out his legacy in Orlando.”
• Dwight Howard is among the favorites to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Abe Schwadron of SLAM ONLINE: “In every single Orlando win over the Bucks over the past two weeks, the Magic have overcome fourth quarter deficits, and they now sit at 21-12 on the year, with a potentially awkward matchup at New Jersey up next.”
• Which player that has played for the Magic has the best chance of having his jersey retired by the franchise? The list may surprise you.
• John Hollinger of ESPN Insider is quite fond of Ryan Anderson: “For all the flak we give Otis Smith, let’s point out one thing he absolutely did right: getting Anderson as a throw-in in the Vince Carter trade with New Jersey. After two seasons as a reserve, he’s emerging as a star this season — in fact, he’s sixth in the East in PER and pushing Dwight Howard for the Orlando team lead in that category, helping keep the Magic afloat at 21-12 despite the fact that their guards can barely get the ball across the time line. Anderson’s long ball is so deadly when paired with Howard’s interior dominance that he has the second-best plus/minus difference in the NBA, exceeded only by that of the Clippers’ Blake Griffin. Orlando is plus-9.41 points per 100 possessions with Anderson on the court but a ghastly minus-10.11 points per 100 possessions once he checks out.”

Eddy Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of Magic Basketball. Follow him on Twitter.

Monday’s Magic Word

• Jessica Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel: “To prepare Dwight Howard for his first all-star slam-dunk contest in 2007, Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith demonstrated how to dunk. He didn’t do any jumping, though. Smith instructed with his feet on the ground, which had Howard and Jameer Nelson laughing hard. He may not have dunked in more than a decade, but Smith knew what he was talking about. He competed in two all-star dunk contests. [...] Smith told Howard about one of his more creative dunks, where he threw the ball from one side of the basket, caught it on the other and slammed it with the hand closest to the rim. The contest has since changed. Blake Griffin, the 2011 slam-dunk champion, wowed the crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when he leaped over a car and dunked. [...] Howard was the dunk champion in 2008, the year after Smith gave him tips. Smith didn’t win in either of his appearances, but when he played, he competed against big names. The all-star contest Saturday at the Amway Center will include Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Iman Shumpert of the New York Knicks.”
• Beware of counterfeit All-Star Game tickets.
• Dwight Howard talks about how the Miami Heat were able to beat the Orlando Magic in yesterday’s game.
• A look back at the Magic’s loss against the Heat.
• Jason Richardson sat out of Orlando’s game against Miami due to chest pains but is okay.
• The field for the 2012 Taco Bell Skills Challenge is set.
• Gilbert Arenas has yet to find a home this season with a new NBA team.
• More on Arenas.
• The Magic struggled to contain LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
• Ryan Anderson has been a game-changer for Orlando.
• Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “It has been suggested that a certain young Knicks guard can be counted on to divert some All-Star Weekend spotlight away from a certain local star whose free agency beckons in July. Not so sure about that one. Quite a test for Linsanity to see what sort of dent it can put into the long-awaited ASW frenzy over Dwight’s future.”
• Matt Moore of ProBasketballTalk: “Miami wreaked havoc on the Magic defensively as well, as expected. 37 percent from the field for Orlando. 14 turnovers. A world of hurt. Was Howard disinterested, or were the Magic not forcing the issue to get him the ball enough? These questions are not answerable. The results are the same. The Magic are a good team. The Heat are better. That’s the lesson of Sunday’s game, regardless of what the season series record says.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “They keep on winning mostly, but the Sunday loss to Miami shows how far this team is from elite. As the Dwight Howard rumors ramp up heading into the All-Star Weekend, will it start to weigh on this team?”
• Arenas: “I [told Dwight], ‘If you’re leaving or you’re not leaving, you’ve got to keep that locker room together. You guys have got to be a family still, because at the end of the day these are the people you fight with, you battle with.’ I check up on him after certain games and make sure the spirit is still high, tell him just stay focused and keep trying to dominate. [...] To be honest, I have no idea [if Dwight will stay], because like any big decision you’re going to go back and forth every day. Like I tried to tell him, it’s going to be hard to just go out there and play basketball.”
• More on the Magic’s loss against the Heat.
• John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “The Magic got smoked in Miami on Sunday, but they’ve recovered from their late-January struggles and are once again a top-four seed in the East. Somehow, they’ve been the eighth-best offensive team in February, with just two guys, Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson, who can score consistently.”

Eddy Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of Magic Basketball. Follow him on Twitter.

Friday’s Magic Word

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden did not make the trip because of injuries, and the news caught Van Gundy and the Magic by surprise today. The Magic spent a significant portion of their shootaround prepping for Gooden’s pick-and-rolls with Brandon Jennings; then, after shootaround, Van Gundy was informed of Gooden’s absence by the Sentinel’s Brian Schmitz as Brian asked a question. ‘Oh, that’s great,’ Van Gundy said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. ‘We just spent the entire morning on preparing for Drew Gooden’s pick-and-rolls. Yeah, that’s outstanding. No, seriously, we spent the entire morning on the Drew Gooden-Brandon Jennings pick-and-rolls. So we’ll be prepared for Monday night [when the Magic face the Bucks] in Milwaukee. That’s fabulous. We barely ever get a day to work and now you tell me I just wasted my hour,’ Van Gundy continued, a smile on his face.”
• Jameer Nelson and Dennis Scott will be teaming up with Marie Ferdinand-Harris in the Haier Shooting Stars competition during All-Star Weekend in Orlando.
• How can the dunk contest be improved upon?
• The continued saga of Dwight Howard and the New Jersey Nets.
• Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider: “When you’re talking in terms of marginal gains, no team stands to gain more from a Howard acquisition than Chicago, which would vault over Miami as the odds-on favorite to win it all. You’d be asking Howard to paper over the defensive shortcomings of his new frontcourt mates in Carlos Boozer and Turkoglu, but Bulls defensive wizard Tom Thibodeau could make it work. Even more so than Paul in L.A., Derrick Rose would make an ideal running mate for Howard because of his ability to get his own shot. Howard is not a high-volume offensive player and has always needed a high-scoring teammate to open things up in the lane. The Magic get back plenty of future value in this deal and would be one of the league’s better defensive teams right away. However, points would be hard to come by on the offensive end, as Orlando would be woefully short of shot creators. That’s OK — Smith presumably is thinking big-picture with this one.”
• To entice Nets fans to show up, ticket prices are being slashed when Howard comes to town.
• Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “I think the biggest name being discussed will be Steve Nash. A point guard could make all the difference in the world to the Lakers and Magic. For the same reason, Ramon Sessions will be on the radar.”

Eddy Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of Magic Basketball. Follow him on Twitter.