In the opinion of Drew Gooden, there's enough room for him and Juwan Howard in the low post.

When the Orlando Magic signed Howard last month, one of the first questions to surface was whether the 30-year-old veteran of nine NBA seasons could co-exist with a player whose rookie season was capped by a 20-point, 17-rebound performance in Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons. But Gooden doesn't believe the two will be stepping on each other's toes, literally or figuratively.

"I think we're going to play well together," said Gooden, who saw Howard in Los Angeles earlier this summer before the signing period for free agents began. "I always looked up at Juwan when I was a younger kid growing up. And I'm going to learn a lot from him."

Both the 6-foot-9 Howard and the 6-10 Gooden are capable jump shooters, although Gooden's shot tends to be of the fall-away variety. The Memphis Grizzlies had used the fourth overall pick in last year's draft on Gooden and played him out of position at small forward before the Magic acquired Gooden and installed him at power forward. And with the addition of Howard, Gooden anticipates getting more playing time at center, where most teams in the East are undersized.

"That was the question over my head last year -- whether I was big enough to play power forward. And I think I proved that," Gooden said. "So hopefully this year, I might be big enough to play center."