Dwight Howard hauls in a rebound as Marcus Camby looks on in the Orlando Magic's 109-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Howard regained the league's lead in rebounds per game with his 24-rebound performance.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

Okay, I'm taking my All-Star break early. Enjoy these other takes on last night's 109-98 Magic win over the Nuggets, as well as a few other odds-and-ends. See you on the other side of Sunday.

• Basketbawful included Maurice Evans in his Worst of the Night feature:

  Maurice Evans: If there's a wink link in the Magic's daisy chain, it's their backcourt. And that weakness was on display last night, as Evans scored 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting. You know, starting 2-guards are supposed to score. That's what they do. But Evans is averaging 7.6 PPG. And it's not like he's much of a playmaker, either (1.1. APG).

  And yet I still think the Magic would be wise to re-sign "Mogans" to a short-term deal this summer. Despite last night's egg, he's played well as a starter overall, and his defense is still above-average.

• Basketbawful, writing this time at Deadspin, has the following to say about Dwight Howard's monster performance. Superbad references abound:

  Okay, calm down. Calm down, she likes you. She wants to [perform fellatio]. That's a good thing. It's the best. I'm guessing a lot of people will want to [perform fellatio on Dwight Howard] after he sunk the Denver Nuggets' battleship with 23 points and 24 rebounds, and that includes his coach, Stan Van Gundy, who called Howard out for a lack of effort after the Magic lost to Cleveland on Monday. During the postgame press conference, Van Gundy said, "We've seen games like this out of him before. It's not like Stan Van Gundy's a motivational genius and got Dwight to play." Hm. Maybe, maybe not. But Matt McHale wonders why Van Gundy speaks in the third person. Matt McHale thinks that's weird, but then, what does Matt McHale know? (I'll tell you: He knows that the Magic won 109-98.)

• Brian Schmitz says in his game recap Dwight's teammates want him to wear a Superman cape in the dunk contest this weekend.
• Lost in the commotion over Dwight's stellar night are the great second-half performances of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Sweet Lew had arguably his best game in Magic white-and-blue, scoring 14 of his 25 points in the decisive third-quarter; he also added 7 rebounds. Turk, meanwhile, recovered from foul trouble to score 12 points in the fourth to put the Nuggets away for good.
• Also don't forget to note Jameer Nelson's poor game: 6-of-15 shooting for 13 points. Yuck. Still, can I legitimately complain when we managed to beat one of the league's better teams despite our starting backcourt going 7-of-23 for 15 points?
• After last week's loss to the Lakers, I wrote that Pau Gasol got away with some flops. Hardwood Paroxysm has video evidence that Gasol is, indeed, a flopper.
• More from Schmitz, who wonders if Carlos Arroyo and J.J. Redick are on the trading block. I don't think Redick will have to be included in every possible trade scenario, but he almost certainly will have to go if the other team is willing to take on Pat Garrity.
• Kurt Thomas, a potential Magic trade target, figures to see his playing time decline in Seattle during the second half of the season, as the Sonics want to play the kids a little more. From the Seattle Times (via SuperSonicSoul):

  Coach P.J. Carlesimo intends to use the second half of the season to evaluate players such as C Robert Swift, C Johan Petro, G Luke Ridnour, swingman Delonte West and Gelebale at the expense of others, including starters.

  Might be time to make that phone call, Otis.

Enjoy your weekend, the All-Star festivities, and Valentine's Day. For those of you who are interested in the Nets potentially trading Jason Kidd to Dallas, check out Mavs Moneyball. Wes Cox was not too happy with the deal when it was announced.

File Photo by Red Huber, the Orlando Sentinel

Otis Smith has finally seen the light.

The Magic's General Manager told reporters, including John Denton of Florida Today, that he is indeed looking to acquire a power forward before the playoffs:

"It would be really nice to have another big body, but quite frankly we've played really well with what we've had," Smith said. "You'd be crazy to not want to help your team get better. But you have to do something that's going to make sense and not just because you feel like you have to make a move."

I wrote earlier this week that power forward was the Magic's weakest position. Let's take a look at which power forwards might be available, and what it might take to acquire them:

• Reggie Evans, Philadelphia 76ers:
  • The Good: Based on rebound rate, he's the best rebounding power forward in the NBA.
  • The Bad: He doesn't do anything else, and he's an exceptionally poor free throw shooter. Additionally, his contract runs for another four years.
  • What It Would Take: The 76ers are better than their record indicates and have plenty of young talent. However, they're pretty thin up front, so trading Evans would be difficult for them to do.
  • My offer: Keyon Dooling, J.J. Redick, and the draft rights to Fran Vazquez for Louis Amundson and Evans.
    • Why it works for us: The Magic need rebounding, and Evans is an exceptional rebounder. Amundson is a throw-in to make the salaries match.
    • Why it works for them: Dooling and Redick can provide solid backup minutes to two-guard Willie Green, whose current backup is the woefully inept Gordan Giricek. Additionally, Dooling's expiring contract combines with Giricek's to give the 76ers a bit more cap room this summer, which they earmark to re-sign restricted free-agent Andre Iguodala. Fran Vazquez sweetens the deal and gives the 76ers a decent backup power forward whenever he chooses to leave Europe.
• Chuck Hayes, Houston Rockets:
  • The Good: He's a fantastic rebounder (16.0 rebound rate) for his size (6'6"), even in the big-man-heavy Western Conference. Think of what he can do out East!
  • The Bad: Like Evans, he's a non-factor offensively. Like Evans, he's also a poor free throw shooter, connecting on 27% (!) of his attempts this season.
  • What It Would Take: Not much, which is surprising given the Rockets' eagerness to re-sign him last summer. He's regressed a bit and is losing power forward minutes to rookies Luis Scola and Carl Landry. The Dream Shake, the best Rockets blog on the internet, has an entire section entitled, "I like you, Chuck Hayes, but I like winning more."
  • My offer: Carlos Arroyo for Steve Francis and Hayes.
    • Why it works for us: Hayes can give us 15-20 solid minutes a night. Honestly, I feel better about our chances with him in the lineup than I do with Brian Cook, who is two inches taller but a much worse rebounder. Francis, who is out for the season, is a throw-in to make the salaries match. The Magic would buy him out.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is much more consistent than any of Houston's other point guards (Rafer Alston, rookie Aaron Brooks, Mike James) and can distribute the ball well.
• Joe Smith, Chicago Bulls:
  • The Good: Although not much of a rebounder, he's leaps-and-bounds better than Rashard Lewis in that regard. He also has good range on his jump-shot; that is, he won't hog the painted area from Dwight Howard
  • The Bad: There are indeed better rebounders available.
  • What It Would Take: Not as much as one might think. The Bulls want to make a playoff push, and the best way for them to do that is to upgrade their point guard rotation. Chris Duhon may have scored a career-high 34 points Thursday night, but he's still Chris Duhon.
  • My offer: Arroyo and James Augustine for Smith.
    • Why it works for us: In addition to getting a solid, reasonably priced (~$10 million over 2 season) veteran, the Magic free up a roster spot by trading two players for one.
    • Why it works for them: I'll let Matt from Blog-A-Bull explain:

      The Bulls don't get a 'prospect', but would I really want [J.J.] Redick? I'd rather see if they could re-sign Arroyo cheap enough to where bringing Duhon back is definitely not an option.

• Kurt Thomas, Seattle SuperSonics:
  • The Good: He's a strong, powerful banger of a big-man averaging 7.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for a woeful Seattle team in the midst of rebuilding. He boasts a robust 18.8 rebounding rate and defends the post well. He's in the last year of his deal, which is worth approximately $8 million.
  • The Bad: At 35-years-old, he's creaky; indeed, health is an issue.
  • What It Would Take: This part is where it gets tricky. Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling are two solid trade assets, but they're both point guards. The SuperSonics have a log-jam at that position already, and there's no reason for them to add to it. Additionally, there's no incentive for them to want to trade Thomas' expiring contract when they can keep it and let it come off their own books.
  • My offer: Arroyo, Augustine, Keith Bogans, and Redick for Thomas and Delonte West.
    • Why it works for us: Thomas bolsters our frontcourt for the rest of the season and for the playoffs, and West can play combo-guard a la Keyon Dooling.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is a huge upgrade over West and has an expiring contract to boot; Augustine and Bogans also have expiring contracts, and Augustine would instantly become Seattle's third-best big man (after Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox, ahead of Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene, and Robert Swift); and Redick is a sweet-shooting prospect who would get the chance to flourish playing ahead of Damien Wilkins.
• Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks:
  • The Good: He's a tall, versatile four/three with decent range. He's also an underrated rebounder.
  • The Bad: He's having the worst season of his young career, and his contract runs for another two years.
  • What It Would Take: Probably not a heckuva whole lot. He's losing minutes to Yi Jianlian and the Bucks don't seem too impressed with him.
  • My offer: Augustine and Redick for Villanueva.
    • Why it works for us: We get a solid "buy-low" option without giving up anyone who sees significant playing time.
    • Why it works for them: Redick instantly becomes the Bucks' backup two-guard; he won't lose minutes to Charlie Bell (having arguably the worst season in NBA History) or to Awvee Storey, that's for sure. Augustine has a small expiring contract and provides the Bucks with the sort of hustle coach Larry Krystkowiak admires.

Which of these deals sounds most appealing to you?

The Magic's Dwight Howard hauls in one of his twelve rebounds in Orlando's 106-73 victory over hapless Seattle.
Photo by John Raoux, the Associated Press

I guess winning ugly is better than not winning at all.

The Magic overcame their own sloppy play to rout the Seattle SuperSonics, keeping the beleaguered franchise winless in 8 games this season. Rashard Lewis, who came to Orlando via a sign-and-trade deal from Seattle, torched his former mates for 22 points in just 29 minutes. Dwight Howard helped Orlando with his 7th double-double in 8 games this season, posting 13 points and 12 boards.

Let me just assert this fact: it's not that we played well enough to win this game, but rather that Seattle played horridly enough to lose it. A team has to be trying really hard to lose when it forces 26 turnovers and still loses by 27. Then again, it's hard to win when your opponent hits 10-of-25 three-pointers, as Orlando did tonight. So I'll give us some credit there.

The player of the game is obviously Rashard Lewis, who rebounded from his awful showing against Phoenix, which included missing 11-of-14 shots, to score 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. That makes 7 good games out of 8 for Rashard Lewis, which is encouraging.

But the player who impressed me the most was Trevor Ariza, who took over Pat Garrity's role as the first forward off the bench for us. He responded with 11 points and 11 rebounds, his fifth career double-double. More importantly, he was not content to settle for his jump-shot, driving aggresively to the basket against Seattle's zone defense. He only made 3 of his 8 shots, but made up for it by converting 5 of his 6 free throws. If "The Razor," as Magic radio play-by-play man Dennis Neumann likes to call him, can be relied upon to bring that intensity off our bench every night, other teams are going to be in trouble.

Oft-unheralded Keith Bogans also deserves some recognition for his performance tonight. KeBo, soon to be a part of at least one of my fantasy basketball teams, scored 16 points and hit 5 three-pointers; he was feeling it from beyond the arc, to put it mildly. Perhaps Brian Schmitz should reduce the 14-1 odds of KeBo being traded before the deadline; he's too valuable to this team to give up.

Keith Bogans. Valuable. Who knew?

As for Seattle... I have no idea what they're doing. I guess they'll be good in a few years once Kevin Durant improves his shot selection, but right now, they're a team that has a ton of talent on the wings (Durant, Jeff Green, Delonte West) but only two good young bigs (Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox). Kurt Thomas is a good player, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and isn't part of their long-term plans. And their depth at center is atrocious: Bob Swift is always hurt, and Johan Petro is spectacularly awful; it pained me to watch him clank jumper after jumper in garbage time tonight.

Okay, I like the Sonics, and I hope they stick it to their slimy owner by staying in Seattle, but they are just a bad team. When we turn the ball over 26 times, we should be the team losing by 27 points. Wow.

The Magic are obviously happy to win a game, but they cannot repeat tonight's performance tomorrow against Cleveland and expect to defeat the defending Eastern Conference champions.