It aint easy being brilliant...

FINALLY, the Dwight Howard trade saga, barring David Stern mysteriously taking over ownership of the Orlando Magic and blocking this deal at the last minute, is over.

The self proclaimed “Superman” is going to the team that was the most logical location for him, all along.

So let’s break down the deal:

Lakers get:

Dwight Howard

My beloved Lakers did it, again. They landed the best center in the NBA. It was revealed in the press not all that long ago that Howard didn’t want to follow in the foot steps of all of the Lakers legendary big men. Too bad. Howard is now officially the next in the line of the NBA’s center position Mt. Rushmore. Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, and now D12. Personally, I believe this to be the only team that EVER made since for the services of Dwight Howard. The Lakers will now have the best starting lineup in the NBA, bar none. Steve Nash will be an effortless pick and roll partner with Pau Gasol, as well as be able to get Dwight 20 a night without the Lakers ever having to run a play for him. Kobe, as much as everyone likes to sit around and poounce on his eventual demise, STILL finished 2nd in the league in scoring this season, and is beyond hungry for that 6th championship ring. Metta World Peace will have the exclusive and sole responsibility of D’ing up the NBA’s top perimeter players. Lost in all of this could be the enormous, bargain acquisition of Antawn Jamison only a month ago. Jamiaon can shoot it, post it, play 3 positions on offense, guard 4 positions on defense, and will be the go to guy on the Lakers 2nd unit as well as vibe incredibly well with the Lakers starting unit, if needed. Bottom line, the Lakers are now among the top 2 teams in the West.

Nuggets get:

Andre Iguodala

I LOVE this move for the Denver Nuggets. Andre Iguodala is an unselfish athlete who loves to run and will now become the Nuggets most overall versatile defender. The Nuggets will still NOT have that one single go to #1 guy to bail them out when things are going poorly on offense, something that I believe is essential in postseason basketball, but I like this move for the Nuggets.

76ers get:

Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson

Brilliant move for the Sixers, that if NOTHING else, lets the Sixers’ faithful know that this organization is serios about becoming a big time contender. The Sixers land the 2nd best player in the deal in 24 year old Andrew Bynum, and get a big time perimeter scoring upgrade in Richardson. Bynum is the game’s 2nd best big man, he will be the focal point of the Sixers’ offense, and in MY opinion, with THIS move, the Sixers’ are among the Top 3 teams in the Eastern Conference.

Magic get:

Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, and a 1st round pick from each team

I have to be perfectly honest with you, Magic fans. You are going to suck in a BIG way this coming season. Al Harrington, whom you just acquired in this deal, is now the best player on your team. That is NOT good. Afflalo essentially cancels Richardson out, at a far cheaper price. He averaged 15 a night last season compared to 12 a night for Richardson. Harrington, though now your best player, is a 6’9 power forward that can’t rebound. The 6 boards Harrington averaged a night last season are less than half of the 14.5 boards a night D12 averaged for the Magic last season. Vucevic serves to be nothing more than an oversized throw in at the center position, and Harkless is a rookie out of St. John’s. And yes, you are getting a 1st round pick from each team, but really, how good can you expect any of the picks to ACTUALLY be?? The Lakers, at the very worst, are going to go to the Western Conference Finals this season. The best pick you will get is about 27th. The Nuggets will also be a playoff team. Maybe if you’re lucky, they will perform just poorly enough in an extremely deep Western Conference to leave you with a pick between 17-20. The Sixers are now going to be among the top 3 teams in the East. I think that on paper, they have the necessary pieces to go to the Eastern Conference Finals. Expect a pick in the 20’s from them, as well. So, you will have one top 10 pick courtest of your own poor play, and three picks between 18-30 in a draft that isn’t expected to be nearly as deep as this season’s was. You had to have seen this coming, though, Magic fans. This WAS a neccesary move. You HAD to do it. You simply couldn’t afford to let Howard walk for nothing. You will have to be patient now, and take solice in the fact that if nothing else, the Magic have a solid history on draft day. 3-5 years, minimum. Now we will see what the Magic organization is made of.