The other option, which Magic CEO Alex Martins announced Monday after the recent annual meetings of the DeVos family in Grand Rapids, Mich., was to just blow the whole thing up.

(Stan) Van Gundy: Gone.

(Otis) Smith: Gone.

Next up: Dwight Howard.

That’s how I see it, anyway. According to two people familiar with the Magic’s strategy, the departure of Van Gundy and Smith does not necessarily mean Howard is staying in Orlando. Similarly, if the Magic had chosen to keep Van Gundy and/or Smith, it wouldn’t necessarily have signaled that Howard was gone.

My opinion has been all along that they would all be gone — at least Van Gundy and Howard. It is the scorched-earth inevitability when a superstar of Howard’s caliber wants out. There’s nothing left when he goes. (See James, LeBron; Brown, Mike; and Ferry, Danny.)

via Ken Berger of CBS Sports