Shaquille O’Neal is the latest to say what most everyone seems to think—a Dwight Howard reunion with the Orlando Magic isn’t such a terrible idea.
Both parties have changed in dramatic fashion since the split. The Magic aren’t a contender in any sense of the word since Howard left, but they also aren’t the floundering franchise trying to surround one star player with quality free agents. Howard is still dominant, but not what he once was, now more of a reserved superstar who understands his role on a team as opposed to the big shot who wanted to take the Los Angeles Lakers by storm.
Many of these factors are why Shaq feels a reunion makes sense, as he told ESPN.com’s Calvin Watkins:
I think it would be good for the city. First of all, after the first time he left, letting a big young guy get away, it shouldn’t happen a second time. All the puzzle [pieces] have to fit. …
If you have respect for one another, I think you have to delete the word differences ’cause business is always going to be business. The DeVos family [which owns the Magic] I have respect for. It can definitely work, as a general manager and owner we’re not just going to be bringing people back, we’re trying to get to that next level. If that guy can’t get us to the next level, then it don’t make sense.
Long story short, after an odd split, both sides seem to need one another.
Orlando needs a star player. The draft pieces forming a decent core are there, but the smaller team in Florida doesn’t have much of a chance at a superstar outside of a guy who already knows what the organization is like.
For his part, Howard now seems to understand he’s not good as one part of a superteam. He floundered in Los Angeles and has been a miserable fit with James Harden and the Houston Rockets for the past three seasons, so much so that he told USA Today what he’s been missing since his days in Orlando:
Since I’ve been in the NBA, especially when we (were) in Orlando and (then-coach) Stan (Van Gundy) got there, he made a big emphasis on playing inside-out, and really just playing a bully-type style of basketball,” said Howard, who plans on declining his $23.2 million player option for next season. “And we did pick and rolls too, so it was kind of like a mixture. That’s what threw teams off. It wasn’t (just) me getting post-ups so I can always score, but it was doing that to free up our shooters, to give them more space (and) to really shoot the ball.
Rest assured Orlando would go back to that style at the drop of a hat if Howard decides to come back to town.
It’s not too late for both sides. Orlando has tried to rebuild through the draft and has done a decent job at forming a core, but the Brandon Jennings deal shows the front office is tired of waiting. So is Howard, who will opt out this summer and look for a chance to contend for another title before it’s too late now that he is over the age of 30.
As a centerpiece for Orlando, the quieter Howard would work wonders in the offense he desires, especially with young pieces such as Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and others around him.
It’s nice the reunion has Shaq’s approval. He knew such a comment would make headlines and maybe it’s something the fan in him wants to see, if not for one side than for both parties. Even without Shaq’s blessing, though, both parties have grown in ways that make this an all-too-obvious solution.