Dwight Howard formally requests trade

[Andrew]

and Andrew- isn't Howard already the #1 guy in the pecking order in Orlando? all those moves that Otis Smith made (i.e- going over the lux tax to resign JJ Reddick last year & trading for hedo/arenas and this year resigning Richardson to 4yrs) weren't they meant to compliment Howard's game??

anywhere else Howard goes he probably won't be that #1 guy anymore IMO

I never said he wasn't the #1 option in Orlando. My point was that going to New Jersey would afford him the chance to remain the #1 option - my guess is that he would be ahead of Deron Williams on the Nets - and that it could be part of the appeal. In the Lakers and Mavericks, he also has a couple of preferred destinations where he's apparently willing to give up being that guy.

[Main Bounce]

Chris Paul reached out to Dwight to join him wherever he end up???
http://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com/20 ... ork-knicks

Then why wont Dwight join Chris Paul in New Orleans or Chris Paul join Dwight Howard in Orlando?
Making this situation much difficult making those 2 teams lose their superstars...
In this way it is less complicated and the most important at least 1 of the 2 teams wins a deal

[Nick]

Neither team really has the pieces to trade for another superstar. Nor the cap to sign one.

[Andrew]

The Hornets might, but it'd require Paul being willing to re-sign next year with both he and Howard taking a paycut. When it's all said and done, it seems safe to say it's out of the question.

[Main Bounce]

But I dont think neither time will gamble to let their Superstars stay and in the end lose them for nothing.

[Andrew]

It seems quite likely they're both moving on, yes.

[Andrew]

Nets assembling blockbuster Howard trade offer

Talks between the Orlando Magic and New Jersey Nets for a Dwight Howard blockbuster trade have gathered momentum over the past several days, and the framework of a possible four-team deal has taken shape, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Front office sources say Nets general manager Billy King has aggressively pursued the necessary players and picks to try and satisfy Orlando’s demands for Howard, one of the league’s most dominating and popular players.

The biggest hurdle for the Nets to acquire Howard will still ultimately be the Magic’s willingness to give up their future with him and concede that re-signing him is a lost cause. Orlando could also decide to keep Howard until the trade deadline in March and re-evaluate the market for him. There’s still a belief within the Magic a successful season could help them keep Howard for the long-term.

For his part, Howard is reportedly softening his stance on leaving the Magic but hasn't rescinded his trade request. Seems like it could go either way at this point, though perhaps the Magic are more inclined to wait until the deadline and try to make some other moves first.

[Vendetta13]

howard to new jersey gaining steam.not so bad

[Lamrock]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... z1gWoBjaW5

Blazers Could Send Wallace To Magic In Howard To Nets Trade

The Blazers have emerged as an additional team in the trade talks involving the New Jersey Nets.

Portland would send Gerald Wallace to the Magic, along with Brook Lopez from the Nets.

In return, the Blazers would receive multiple draft picks.

Via Marc Stein/ESPN (via Twitter)

Just because we lost our worst player to retirement doesn't mean it's time to rebuild. Hope it doesn't happen.

[Andrew]

Magic tell teams they’re not trading Howard; Howard saga could go ‘to end of the season’

The Orlando Magic have informed teams that they’re ending trade talks for Dwight Howard and plan to start the season with the All-Star center on their roster, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Magic’s decision came Wednesday after the Nets assembled a multiteam trade proposal for Howard that would have sent the Magic center Brook Lopez, Portland Trail Blazers forward Gerald Wallace, point guard Jordan Farmar and a first-round draft pick. The Nets also would have taken on Chris Duhon and Hedo Turkoglu. The Blazers would have received four draft picks for Wallace.

With the framework of a deal in place, talks had reached the ownership level in Orlando, league sources said. Nevertheless, Magic ownership did not approve of the trade, and general manager Otis Smith then informed teams Howard had been removed from the market.

Magic general manager Otis Smith said Wednesday the team’s goal remains to keep Dwight Howard in a Magic uniform as long as they possibly can and that the trade talks “could go to the end of the season.”

Smith would not say whether trade talks for the center are off, but did say there was no deal in place.

“We’re at the same place we’ve always been,” Smith said. “We don’t have a deal until we have a deal. Right now we still have him in a Magic uniform, and that’s where we expect him to be until that changes.”

In other words, it's likely to go down very much like the situation with Carmelo Anthony last season.

[Andrew]

Magic’s Howard says trade request still stands

Howard said Thursday that his trade request hasn’t been withdrawn; a day after Magic general manager Otis Smith shook off questions about what offers he’d received and said that trade discussions involving him “could go to the end of the season.”

The team is off Friday, it’s first break since training camp opened last week.

“There’s no back and forth,” Howard said. “It still stands and we know what’s going on. I talked to Otis today. What we talked about is gonna stay between me and him.”

Howard also brushed off a question about whether there needs to be any mending to their relationship going forward.

“Right now me and Otis are gonna continue to try to make this team better,” he said. “And I’m gonna do my part on the court. That’s the reason I’m here. To get our team better and to make myself a better leader for this team.

[Andrew]

Now the Warriors are throwing their hat into the ring:

As the Orlando Magic consider deals for Dwight Howard, the Golden State Warriors have emerged as aggressive suitors for the NBA’s best center, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Golden State management is willing to take Howard as a one-season “rental,” with the hope of selling him on signing a long-term deal before he enters free agency this summer. Like most teams, Golden State has inquired with Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith, but the Magic have yet to commit to aggressively pursuing a trade of Howard.

For the Magic to become intrigued with package, two things would likely have to appeal to them: rebuilding around young point guard Stephen Curry; and the Warriors’ salary-cap space to absorb the three years and $34 million left on Hedo Turkoglu’s contract. The possibility of the pursuit could be complicated by questions about the sturdiness of Curry’s surgically repaired right ankle. The Warriors are willing to part with either of their two guards – Curry or Monta Ellis – but teams clearly will watch how Curry recovers from his recurring ankle sprains.

If I'm the Warriors, I'd probably be more willing to give up Ellis than Curry, his ankle injuries not withstanding. Ellis is an explosive scorer but you've got an opportunity to have a great point guard-centre combo in Curry and Howard, a better inside-outside attack because Curry can flat out shoot the lights out while finding Howard inside for lobs. The Magic would be getting a quality combo guard and picks along with possibly shedding Turkoglu's contract. Not too shabby for either side.

[Radioman]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... dler_Trade

A report from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith indicates the Magic have inquired about a trade of Dwight Howard to the Knicks for Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.

Howard has been linked in trade rumors to the Nets, Lakers and Mavericks.

Is this likely? dont think so... Magic keep Howard until the offseason and then loose it all

[Andrew]

The Magic could do much worse than that. Certainly a great acquisition for the Knicks too, though it wouldn't solve their lack of leadership and stability in the backcourt, they'd still need someone to run the club and get the ball to Howard and Melo. It seems more likely that the Magic will take their chances with Howard as long as their winning (today's ugly loss aside), or at the very least hold onto him through All-Star Weekend and look to deal at the deadline.

[Radioman]

Lakers Slip In Pursuit Of Dwight Howard
By: Jarrod Rudolph
Feb 04, 2012 4:52 PM EST

The Los Angeles Lakers were thought to be the team Dwight Howard favored most when he requested a trade from the Orlando Magic. While the Lakers were easily the team Howard thought about most in the summer, his desire to play for the Lakers changed after a conversation with Kobe Bryant, a source said.

Howard envisioned going to the Lakers and forming a devastating one-two punch with Bryant. But Bryant had other plans for how Howard would be incorporated into the Lakers.

Bryant told Howard that he wanted him to come to Los Angeles and help him win two more championships, but not as an understudy. He wanted Howard to be the team's third option behind himself and Pau Gasol, according to a source. Bryant tried to sell Howard on being his "Tyson Chandler" and made it clear that Los Angeles would be his, but only once Bryant decided he was done playing.

Howard was turned off by the idea.

Howard stated that there was "no way" he would give up everything he has in Orlando to go to the Lakers and be the third option, a source close to the situation said. Howard certainly wouldn’t mind being a third piece on a star-studded team, similar to the situations in Miami and Boston. However, he was turned off by Bryant's presentation as it suggested something totally different.

The feeling is so strong, in fact, that Howard's representatives have informed the Lakers that Howard would not sign an extension if they trade for him this season, according to a source. The only two teams with a realistic chance at signing Howard long-term are the New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic.

nice read

Looks like nothing will happen he might walk away in Free Agency to the NJ/Brooklyn Nets, but i have some hope he might stay.

[NovU]

LLOLOOOLOL. Dwight Howard a Kobe's "Tyson Chandler" and earns Kobe 2 more championship while being third option to Gasol and Kobe. Is Kobe out of his fucking mind? Howard is more of a force than both of them combined at this stage of their career.

Howard's representatives have informed the Lakers that Howard would not sign an extension if they trade for him this season

Look what you done, Coby.

[Murat]

hope he remains at Orlando.

[shadowgrin]

Dwight Howard is a moron.

[rise]

Yeah, he and Deron Williams should just go to Dallas in the offseason.

[Houndy]

^^ Agreed

[Andrew]

I say good call on Howard's part. The Lakers would probably have to give up Gasol to get Howard in the first place and I doubt a one-two punch of Kobe and Howard with the rest of the Lakers' roster would fare any better than their current squad. It's also fair enough that at this point of his career, with his level of talent, he wants to play a bigger role than simply being Kobe's Tyson Chandler and waiting until Kobe retires to make the Lakers his team.

[Fluke32]

I say good call on Howard's part. The Lakers would probably have to give up Gasol to get Howard in the first place and I doubt a one-two punch of Kobe and Howard with the rest of the Lakers' roster would fare any better than their current squad. It's also fair enough that at this point of his career, with his level of talent, he wants to play a bigger role than simply being Kobe's Tyson Chandler and waiting until Kobe retires to make the Lakers his team.

Actually, they didn't need to send Gasol as well if the Lakers' other players were performing well. Too bad that the change in the playing style, lack of training camp, lack of continuity AND overall under-performance of LA's supporting cast, they can't trade Bynum + role players for D12 + Hedo + Chris Duhon. If I had to imagine, the Lakers were hoping that Metta World Peace would thrive under Mike Brown's system enough to bait Orlando to accepting a Bynum+World Peace+Trade Exception on Duhon's contract+1st round pick for Dwight+Hedo+Duhon.

Sucks for LAL that they have 3 dickheads (Kobe's unnecessary sales pitch, Mike Brown's stupid offensive sets, Mitch Kupchak's lack of imagination for the staffing) in the organization dealing with 2 dickheads (Dwight Howard for being self-important, Otis Smith for not really building the correct roster around D12) from Orlando.

[Radioman]

So the winner seem to be the Nets, they just have to sit it out and watch the disputes around Howard and the Magic and get him in Offseason for nothing.

[Andrew]

Actually, they didn't need to send Gasol as well if the Lakers' other players were performing well.

Perhaps, though the Magic would likely insist that he's included. They're also looking to dump Turkoglu's contract in any trade that involves Howard, in which case the Lakers would need to include Gasol to make the deal work under the cap.

[Fluke32]

Actually, they didn't need to send Gasol as well if the Lakers' other players were performing well.

Perhaps, though the Magic would likely insist that he's included. They're also looking to dump Turkoglu's contract in any trade that involves Howard, in which case the Lakers would need to include Gasol to make the deal work under the cap.

Erm, no they don't need to send Gasol to make the trade work.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachi ... Id=6rdb676
Like I said, the Lakers PROBABLY THOUGHT that if World Peace did flourish under a defensive scheme, that could convince Orlando to take him along with Bynum.