Dwight Howard Blames Magic Front Office for Wanting Out


by Marcel Mutoni @marcel_mutoni

Dwight Howard continues to maintain that he’d love to play in Orlando going forward. The problem, according to the big fella, is the working relationship between himself and the front office.

Howard has never shied away from telling the Magic what (and who) he wants for the team to get better, he just thinks they don’t take his personnel suggestions seriously enough.

And that’s part of what’s led to him formally asking to be traded.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

The All-NBA center said that he would not be asking the team to trade him if Magic management, including General Manager Otis Smith, had done more to obtain the players Howard had asked them to acquire. “I’ve talked to a lot of guys and they’ve expressed a lot of interest and would come here,” Howard said. “And I’ve expressed that to the correct people, and none of it’s happened … The stuff that I’ve asked for, the stuff that I’ve felt our team needed to get better, none of it has happened,” Howard said. Was that because of a lack of effort? Or was it because the team didn’t have the trade assets — perhaps because of other moves Smith has made? “None of it has happened,” Howard only said.

Howard made his first trade request to [GM Otis Smith] last Monday. Howard also had, according to Smith, a two-hour conversation with Smith on Tuesday. But Howard said they haven’t spoken in recent days. “I’m pretty sure if you go down the line of teams, every GM has a pretty good relationship with not just the best player but all the players,” Howard said. “If you don’t have a good relationship with the people you work with, how are you guys going to get better? If there was a good relationship then I wouldn’t tell you guys [in the press] that we haven’t talked. We should still talk, regardless, no matter what goes on. I’ve been here for seven years. And no matter what happens, we still should be able to talk.”

Otis Smith acknowledges that Dwight Howard has wanted to get involved in the Magic’s personnel decisions, and claims that the team has accomodated him whenever possible (see: Glen “Big Baby” Davis).

At the moment, there’s very little contact between Orlando and its superstar center, as they explore possible trade opportunities. The relationship between Dwight Howard and Otis Smith — and thus, the entire organization — appears to be irreparably broken.