In contrast, there is Jameer (Nelson), who, like Dwight (Howard), has a decision to make with a year remaining on his contract. Except Magic fans aren’t waiting in quiet desperation as he drags his out.

Nelson got an extension from the NBA on Thursday and has until June 29 to make his decision: Does he opt-in for one final year where the Magic must pay him the handsome sum of nearly $8 million? Or does he opt-out for a longer deal elsewhere? Or perhaps, too, he could opt-out and the Magic could restructure his deal to give him less money next year but more years on his contract.

“Who doesn’t want a long-term deal?” Nelson says. “Everybody wants that security. … I love the Magic organization … but at the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for me and my family.”

It doesn’t seem so far-fetched now to think we have seen the last of both Dwight and Jameer in Magic uniforms. They came in together as first-round draft picks in 2004 and now they might go out together, too. Dwight has been the heart of the Magic for eight years; Jameer has been the soul.

via Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel