Anez Sez: Magic Are Free Fallin' 

The Orlando Magic are pulling a Tom Petty.

They are free fallin' right now.

The reasons why are obvious...

Sure, we can talk about the brutal schedule...Six games in eight days...They are in the midst of nine games in 13 days.  What the Magic are experiencing right now is by far and away the toughest and most tiresome part of their schedule.

We can talk about the fact that this team has practiced once in the last month--once.  Heck, it's rare that this team has a shootaround in the morning before the game anymore with this murderer's row schedule.  There has been major slippage on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court, but no time to get right because of the amount of games being played. 

We can talk about the horrific losses suffered by this Magic team last week at the hands of the Boston Celtics--two of the worst losses in this team's history.  Losses like that can unravel a basketball team.  Losing by 31 points and falling to the rival C's after leading by 27 have something to do with the unraveling we are witnessing right now.

But, to me, all those issues have merely hastened what ya kinda knew would happen to this team eventually.

The real issue tearing this team apart right now is the elephant in the room.  Until said elephant is removed from the room, we're gonna keep suffering through performances like we have seen recently.

I believe the Dwight Howard trade request saga has become a cloud so dark and ominous that it is engulfing every player on this team.

Dwight is not helping things any.

Monday, a story came out about how Dwight wouldn't mind teaming up with his buddy, Derrick Rose, in Chicago.  Last week, Dwight said that Boston would not be a bad place to be either.  In the midst of making those comments, Dwight called out his teammates after a lackluster loss in New Orleans Friday night.  How meaningful is calling out your teammates when, you've in effect, told them that they stink?  He was 100% correct, but such statements ring hollow from a man who wants out of this small, dried up pond.

It took me a while, but I have finally come to grips with the fact that Dwight wants a divorce.  You can forget about the nuclear option where we'd keep Dwight here for the entire season and take our chances that he leaves for nothing this summer.  We must trade Dwight before the trade deadline on March 15 and get something for him.

Now, it's all about making a good deal for the future of this franchise.

Until we set Dwight free, we may have to get used to a whole lotta free fallin'.