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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Apparently no one told the Orlando Magic they are supposed to be rebuilding after the departure of star center Dwight Howard.

He's gone -- as is coach Stan Van Gundy -- but the Magic, under rookie coach Jacque Vaughn, are off to a 2-0 start heading into their game against the Chicago Bulls (2-1) on Tuesday night at the United Center.

"They've always had a very strong organization," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after a shootaround Tuesday morning. "The strengths of the team have changed. It's no longer Dwight and everything feeding off of that, but they still have very talented players."

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The Chicago Bulls have racked up the most wins in the NBA the past two seasons. They've been the No. 1 seed two years in a row in the Eastern Conference. Now, given the uncertain status of Derrick Rose and the ongoing injury concerns of Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who believes the Bulls can achieve the same kind of success this season.

I picked them to win 50 games and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy wondered if I had fallen on my head. The point is that without a healthy Rose in play, and with so much uncertainty surrounding the rest of the roster, the Bulls have gone from being one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference to being one of its biggest question marks.

While the rest of the teams near the top of the conference have improved, the Bulls have seemingly stood in place, angering fans in the process by not wanting to go deep into the luxury tax. While nobody knows exactly where the Bulls will fall, it's clear that the gulf between the Miami Heat and everybody else in the Eastern Conference is bigger, at least on paper, than it's been in two years.

To that point, let's take a look some of the teams the Bulls will be contending with and what they have done to improve themselves in the past few months, especially now that the Dwight Howard deal has finally gone down:

Miami: The clear cut favorite in the East. Veteran sharpshooter Ray Allen took a pay cut to play with LeBron James. They added another shooter in Rashard Lewis for the veteran's minimum to go along with a core of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Yeah, they're pretty good.

Boston Celtics: Allen left, but they still have Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. They also added Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and rookie Jared Sullinger. With Doc Rivers running the show, they'll always have a chance to contend.

Indiana Pacers: They still have Danny Granger, locked Roy Hibbert up to a max deal, and have George Hill and Paul George which helps form a solid young core. They added D.J. Augustin and will get better from their playoff experience last season.

Philadelphia 76ers: Andrew Bynum, acquired in the Howard trade, gives them one of the best young centers in the league. They lost Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, though. Aside from Bynum and Jrue Holiday, where is the offense going to come from? Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner are nice pieces, but I believe they need to do more work before they elevate to the step below Miami.

Brooklyn Nets: The Nets had a solid summer adding Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace while locking up Deron Williams and Brook Lopez to max deals. The Nets have a solid team moving into Brooklyn, but they were banking on getting Howard. Now that he won't be there, they look like they have flipped roles with Atlanta as the team that will be knocked out of the second round for years to come.

New York Knicks: Yes, they added Jason Kidd to a roster which already included Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire, but the Knicks looked lost for most of the season and just don't seem to fit together. They lost Jeremy Lin and Mike Woodson is now charged with meshing everything together with a 39-year-old point guard leading the way. Good luck.

Atlanta Hawks: The fact that the Hawks got rid of Johnson's contract is a victory all by itself. New GM Danny Ferry still has Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague -- plus a lot of potential cap space in the future -- but they aren't going to be all that great this season.

The Bulls are in a precarious position heading into next season, but they aren't unlike the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference assuming, of course, that LeBron and the rest of his teammates stay healthy. They're all playing for second place. Only time will tell just who that second team will be.

While the Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of landing Dwight Howard, the Chicago Bulls were one of several teams that kept an ongoing dialogue with the Orlando Magic in regard to landing the superstar center, according to a league source.

The Bulls, which had conversations regarding a potential deal with former Orlando GM Otis Smith, continued kicking the tires on a potential swap with new Magic GM Rob Hennigan after he was hired in late June.

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CHICAGO -- Dwight Howard isn't going to the Brooklyn Nets right now -- but he isn't coming to play for the Chicago Bulls, either.

Plenty of Bulls fans have wondered if the Orlando Magic center would end up in Chicago now that the Nets, at least for now, appear to be out of the running. But here's what Bulls fans just don't want to grasp: Howard does not want to play in Chicago and sign an extension with the Bulls. He has made it clear that the only team he wants to go to is Brooklyn and the only team he would sign an extension with is the Nets. Other than that, he has said he will test free agency at the end of the season if he doesn't get what he wants.

The Bulls do not want to deal for Howard unless they know for sure that he will sign an extension in Chicago. And that’s the right move.

Let's say the Bulls traded for Howard despite the fact he won't sign an extension. Like other teams around the NBA, they were banking on the fact that once Howard played with their team for a year and was embraced by a new fan base, it would be hard for him to leave. OK, fine. But remember, this isn't Otis Smith running the show anymore in Orlando. New Magic GM Rob Hennigan, he of the Oklahoma City and San Antonio pedigree, seems intent on getting back young cheap players and draft picks.

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For Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard, it's Brooklyn or bust.

"There's only one team on my list and if I don't get traded there, I'll play the season out and explore my free agency after that," Howard told Yahoo! Sports Monday.

Howard did not specify which team, but multiple league sources say that it is the Brooklyn Nets.

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Stan Van Gundy said he knows his franchise player, Dwight Howard, has asked that he be fired as coach of the Orlando Magic, and get this: Van Gundy claimed his sources are better than any reporter's.

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Our panel of experts discusses Luol Deng's sore wrist, the Bulls' trade prospects and Derrick Rose's MVP candidacy.

Fact or fiction: Luol Deng made a mistake by not having surgery immediately after injuring his wrist.

Nick Friedell: Fact. It's admirable Deng decided to postpone the surgery to help the Bulls win a title and play in the Olympics, but if he can't perform up to the same level he did before he tore the ligament, what's the point? Deng's wrist is obviously bothering him, and if he had the surgery right after the injury, there was a chance he would be ready to play at some point in the playoffs. He would have been fine for the Olympics. Now, whenever he takes a fall on the wrist the pain starts all over again. Plus, if he still decides to have the surgery, he would miss at least one month of the beginning of next season. Deng's heart was in the right place, but he might not have been doing the best thing for his team.

Marc Silverman: Fiction. Bottom line: If Luol Deng had surgery, there would be no guarantee that he would've even been available in time for the playoffs. Deng should be applauded for the way he's played through the pain. It's not easy, and there's going to be setbacks along the way -- such as the current situation, when he must rest the wrist and avoid contact. While his points and rebounds are down--Deng has never shot better from distance. When he returned from the injury, he shot 46 percent from 3-point land in February. So far in March that has increased to a white hot 52 percent. Even in "down" games, Deng was able to right the ship by hitting key shots on the road against the Spurs and 76ers. I'm OK with him missing a few games here and there much like an important pitcher who must miss a turn in the rotation. The Bulls aren't winning a title without Deng. Even with a torn ligament in his left wrist, I'm confident he'll provide outstanding defense, clutch shooting and overall smart play.

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Derrick Rose has had enough of the trade rumors, but First Take debates whether the Bulls need Dwight Howard to win a title.

Do the Chicago Bulls need Dwight Howard?

It's hard to say. Before their 99-94 home loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night, the Bulls had the league's best record despite a season-long plague of injuries to key players.

Yet that loss illustrated the dangers of Chicago's one-star system. Derrick Rose was flat broke (6-for-22). Ditto for Joakim Noah (3-for-7) and Luol Deng (1-for-9). Carlos Boozer picked up some slack by scoring 26 points on 12-for-20 shooting, but he has always been the kind of player who provides numbers without controlling tempo or dictating outcome.

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CHICAGO -- After missing his fifth wide-open 3-pointer of the fourth quarter in Thursday’s loss to the Orlando Magic, Kyle Korver slowly trudged back to center court in disbelief. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head.

The owner of one of the NBA's smoothest shots looked off in the distance with the countenance of a man who wished he could be anywhere other than where he was standing.

About 20 minutes later, that expression hadn't left his face. Korver, with a sizeable pack of ice wrapped around his elbow and knee, sat in front of his locker staring into space. He couldn't stomach the fact that he might have just cost his team the game because of the fact he was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the final 12 minutes.

"All right," he said in a tone that made no secret of the fact that he wasn’t looking forward to the forthcoming Q-and-A.

"A couple of them felt good," he said in a hushed voice. "A couple of them maybe not quite as good, but I thought at least three of them were at the bottom of the bucket. You've got one play where everyone falls down and you're left wide open for a corner 3 and it goes in and out. I need to come through in those [situations]."

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CHICAGO -- As the March 15 trade deadline nears, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard did not dispute the perception that he wants to be "the guy" on whatever team he ends up on.

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Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless debate Dwight Howard's future on First Take.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard are the faces of adidas basketball and the company wants to make it clear that it would have no issue if the pair teamed up together in Chicago if Howard decided to join the Bulls at some point down the line.

There have been reports recently that adidas did not want Rose and Howard, their top two basketball endorsers, playing on the same team in the same market, but adidas' Vice President of Global Basketball, Lawrence Norman, who has been in Orlando for All-Star Weekend, made it clear that wasn't the case. He and his team have represented the pair since both came into the league, and he said adidas would have no issue with Howard playing wherever he wanted.

"We support Dwight no matter where he plays," Norman told ESPNChicago.com during a phone conversation on Sunday afternoon. "He's playing in Orlando right now and he's number two in the MVP voting. He's number one in All-Star votes. He's incredibly popular every year when we bring him to China. He's got worldwide appeal. He's doing just fine in Orlando. But we would support him in any decision that he makes."

The rumors about Howard's desire to play elsewhere have accelerated since he made it clear before the season started that he wanted to be traded from the Magic. Howard, who has spent a lot of time with Rose over the past few years working on adidas promotional events, has only acknowledged through his agent, Dan Fegan, that he would like to be dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks or New Jersey Nets.

The 26-year-old Howard seemed open in January to the idea of playing with the Bulls, expressing his "love" for Rose and calling him his "brother" in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, but up to this date he has made no other indication that he would like to be dealt to the Bulls and would sign an extension to stay long-term. He can opt out of his contract and the end of the season and has deflected almost every question about his precarious situation throughout the weekend.

When asked about the prospect of playing with Howard during Friday's media session, Rose admitted that it would be 'crazy' to play with Howard.

"I'm cool with the teammates that I have," Rose said. "But if you want to make up your own fantasy and say 'Would it be crazy if we played together?' Yeah ..."

The 23-year-old Rose, who has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to recruit players, said he hasn't spoken to Howard about the situation and that the Chicago market “speaks for itself.”

"I try not to think about it because he's not with us," Rose said. "But just knowing what type of player he is and how he is playing with his team right now, I think we will be pretty good if he chooses to come."

Norman understands that he has two superstars just entering the prime of their respective careers and he wants to do whatever he can to make them happy, whether they end up playing together or not.

"We've been around a lot of athletes and loyalty is important to all of them," Norman said. "Whether it's Derrick or Dwight, these are very loyal, great athletes and we're lucky to be with the best center and the best point guard in the game."

ORLANDO -- Derrick Rose won't recruit players, but he said Friday that Chicago "speaks for itself," and the Bulls would be "pretty good" if Dwight Howard chooses to join him.

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When Carmelo Anthony talks dominated the digital airwaves last winter, it was widely speculated that Melo's departure could mean the Denver Nuggets' demise. Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri proved to be a hard bargainer, however, and despite having only one real option as a trading partner, he managed to bring in four quality players along with draft picks in the deal. And not only did Denver not fall out of the playoff race, they have played better since the trade, slowed only recently by a massive slate of injuries.

Just days after Anthony was shipped to New York, the Utah Jazz traded Deron Williams, their own discontented superstar, to New Jersey. Utah hasn't been quite as successful as Denver, but despite a haul heavier on youth and draft picks, the Jazz aren't far behind the Nuggets, and are squarely in the playoff picture out West.

Trading a superstar, in other words, is by no means a death sentence -- not even in the short run. But it's not always a winning move, either. New Orleans went from a No. 7 seed in the playoffs to a 4-23 start after sending Chris Paul to Los Angeles. While it's true that the Hornets are the unluckiest team in the NBA so far (defined by TeamRankings.com's NBA luck rankings, which compare expected wins to actual wins), they've also gotten almost no production from Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman or Al-Farouq Aminu. If Denver and Utah "won" their respective superstar trades, New Orleans definitely lost.

There's one more superstar domino to fall, though. Dwight Howard is on the market, and moving him could change the future of many NBA franchises.