Some years ago rumors about the Magic leaving town start spreading. Then Van Gundy came and start winning. Not only those rumors went away but it got us a new, better building. It put Orlando back in the NBA map. After going to the finals we thought we were just one superstar away from winning it all. Dwight Howard was a serious MVP candidate and it seemed we just needed another scorer, some solid role players and that was it: championship. So we tried Vince Carter and it didn't work. Otis Smith traded for Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson and it gave Dwight Howard second thoughts about staying. Then Stan gave THE INTERVIEW that basically was the last nail in the coffin of the Howard-Magic relationship.

Howard said he wanted out, and Van Gundy was charged by an angry front office with having a lot to do with that decision. Van Gundy was fired in not very good terms. The thinking at the time was that Howard leaving was a big setback for the franchise, that it pushed several years away the chance of winning it all.

In hindsight Howard leaving was the best thing that could have happened to the Magic. At the time many people believed that Orlando was just two role players and a Monta Ellis away from a championship. But Howard was never the same after his injury, never ran again for MVP or Defensive Player of the year and while he is still an allstar, he is not a franchise player anymore. Houston sorrounded Howard with a team Orlando could never have dreamt of, and still they are not even close to the finals.

If Howard and Harden are not enough, just imagine if Howard have stayed with our roster: Ryan Anderson, Earl Clark, Glen Davis, Chris Duhon, Justin Harper, Larry Hughes, De Andre LIggins, Jameer Nelson, Daniel Orton, JJ Redick, Jason Richardson, Quentin Richardson, Ish Smith, Hedo Turkoglu, Von Wafer. Yes, that was actually a basketball team.

Had Howard stayed it would have been a disaster. We had bad players, no cap space and untradable contracts. We would have spent years getting rid of them. Then in the highly unlikely scenario where we managed to get good role players and lure a scorer half as good as Harden, we still wouldn't win a championship. Probably this or next season the front office would realize a Howard centered team is not going anywhere and start the rebuilding.

Thanks Dwight Howard for leaving (and Van Gundy for helping). We were saved from years in the NBA limbo and at least are now half way through the rebuilding process (fueled by Vuc, and the pick we got from Howard and traded for Payton.

Thanks for reading, and excuse my grammar!