Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martin trying hard to convince Dwight Howard to stay - NBA Update
It is still early days for Orlando Magic’s new CEO Alex Martins and already he has a mammoth task in front of him - that of preserving the franchise’s talisman; Dwight Howard, the man who has carried the team single handedly for almost seven years.
March 15th trade deadline is almost here which means that Magic and Martins now only have a period of one week to convince Howard - who earlier asked his team to trade him - to stay at Orlando.
The team does not want to lose Howard until and unless, they get a good player in return around which they can build the team and Martins has been talking daily to Howard with a hope that he would be able to convince the star. This is a very tough phase for Alex, however if he succeeds in convincing Howard, he may well become the hero of the town and Orlando fans.
Although Alex is aware of the fact that the clock is ticking quickly, he recently said that he needs some time to sort out this trade headache. He is positive that his frequent conversations with Dwight would help in convincing him to stay.
“I’ve been at this for 90 days – not seven years – and if I’m going to have an influence on the process, I need to utilize as much as time as we possibly can before we make a decision,” Martins says. “And I’ve built a good relationship with him. We’ve had good conversations with him and some of his people. That gives me hope.”
Trading is a routine practice in NBA and teams have been at it since the start of the league. Sometimes, it is beneficial for the teams involved but at other instances, it proves disastrous. Cleveland waited it out in 2009 and what followed was ‘the Decision’ and a season of misery.
Howard is by far the team’s best player and his exit from the team would leave the Magic in a massive turmoil. Take Howard out of the equation and the Magic have above average players at best and that also on their day. The big man has been the lone man holding the franchise together and if Alex fails to convince ‘Superman’, the Magic would well be on their way to five to six years of mediocrity.
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