Dwight Howard Wants To Stay In Orlando Now?
December 12, 2011 - 7:38 pm by Ryan Phillips
The ongoing saga of Dwight Howard’s future home took another turn on Monday as he hinted that he wouldn’t mind staying with the Orlando Magic. Despite everything we’ve heard about how the superstar center has been pushing for a trade, he may have actually changed his mind and decided that Orlando is the best place for him.
On Monday Howard said, “If it is meant for me to stay here, I’ll stay.” That’s a far cry from demanding a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers or New Jersey Nets. Apparently Howard has softened his trade stance and the Magic are currently not planning on moving him.
Howard also had more to say about his current situation:
“I love this city. There is no place I’d rather be but Orlando. I just want to make sure we have the right things here so we can win a championship. I’m all about change. If you’re willing to change and you’re willing to do what it takes to win then, you know, you got me.”
The Magic have a new CEO in Alex Martin after Bob Vander Weide up and quit last week, so maybe the team’s new head man has had some good conversations with Howard about the direction of the franchise.
Still, color us skeptical on this one. Howard has been telling people behind the scenes for years that he wants to play for the Lakers. Then one day after the Chris Paul trade was vetoed - because David Stern didn’t like that Paul had “dictated” where he wanted to go - Howard claimed he wanted to go to the Nets. Now he’s saying he wouldn’t mind staying in Orlando. While I know he’s not the kind of guy to play games publicly, he could be setting things up so that when he does move to the Lakers it comes as a surprise and not something he orchestrated.
Still, if we take him at face value, this would be a huge flip that will certainly have a gigantic impact on the way the rest of the league prepares for the upcoming season. The Lakers are intent on making some big moves to change things around and Howard was definitely a part of their potential plans.
We’ll keep you updated as things on Howard develop.
