It’s humanly impossible to handle free agency worse that Dwight Howard has. At this point, it’s probably best if just keeps quiet.
“I’ve been telling those guys [in the Magic front office], and I’ve been telling them for the past two or three weeks now, that I want to stay and finish the season,” Howard said. “I told ’em I feel we’ve got a great opportunity to win and I told ’em that I want to be here and I want to bring a championship here. And I told ’em they’ve got to give me that chance.” It’s not that simple. If the Magic keep Howard beyond the deadline, he would have the chance to sign elsewhere in free agency — most likely with the Brooklyn-bound New Jersey Nets — and could leave the Magic with no compensation. Howard might be stringing the Magic along by not committing to staying beyond this postseason.
“They didn’t trade me at the beginning of the season, and I told them I was going to go out and play as hard as I can every night to put our team in a position to win,” Howard said. “And we’re third in the East. We’re playing great basketball. I told ’em I don’t want to see that slip away. So we’ve got to take a chance, and I think we have a great chance of surprising a lot of people and winning.” […] Howard said he expects to play for the Magic when they host the New Jersey Nets on Friday. “I feel they have to roll their dice,” Howard said. “It might be tough, but I feel like we’ve got a great opportunity. But they’ve got to roll it.”
Source: Orlando Sentinel
