NBA trade rumors: Magic keep Dwight Howard situation scrambled

Magic GM Otis Smith told the Orlando Sentinel that the odds on a Dwight Howard trade by Thursday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline are 50-50.

Magic CEO Alex Martins says he is talking to Howard almost daily, and that there is a chance the team will keep him long-term.

Around the league, sources say that the Magic are actually initializing trade talks not involving Howard—rather, seeking to make a deal to bolster Howard’s supporting cast.

Coach Stan Van Gundy said he expects that Howard will still be with the team on Friday, and that the issue of Howard’s future will linger over the Magic into the summer. “There’s closure, I guess, if he goes,” Van Gundy said. “If he stays, it just starts all over again, you just start the clock again. Then we’re right back to where we were when the playoffs ended last year. Everybody will be talking about, OK, what’s going to happen in the summer? And what’s going to happen next year?”

If it seems as though the Magic aren’t really sure what the heck they’re going to do with Howard this week, that’s because they are happy to have the other 29 teams thinking that the situation is scrambled. Yes, the most likely scenario remains that Howard stays put and the sides see what they can work out in the summer. But by presenting the situation as one in which the team feels it can keep Howard, the Magic are driving up the asking price for teams that want to engage in Howard talks.

If Howard is to be moved, the frontrunner is New Jersey and has been all along. The Nets have limited assets, but they can, at least, start with Brook Lopez, rookie MarShon Brooks and the Rockets’ first-round draft pick. Problem is, Lopez (who had not missed a game in three seasons before this one) has not helped matters by first fracturing a bone in his foot and then spraining his ankle, limiting him to just five games this season. The Rockets’ pick is valuable in this year’s deep draft, but it is top 14-protected, which means the Nets will get it only if Houston makes the playoffs—and with Kyle Lowry out two-to-four weeks, that is increasingly unlikely.

New Jersey has been contacting teams looking to dump salaries (the Nets hold the expiring contracts of Mehmet Okur and Kris Humphries) in hopes of acquiring enough draft picks or young players to draw the Magic into a deal.