In what could be a bizarre ending—or, at least, interlude—to Dwight Howard’s saga in Orlando, Howard has reportedly told teammates that he will not opt out of his contract after the season, meaning he would stay at least one more year with the Magic. Three Magic players told Yahoo! Sports, however, that Howard never said this.
UPDATE: Turner Sports' David Aldridge reports that the Magic are giving Howard until the end of Wednesday to file paperwork with the league to make his opt-in official, or they will move forward with trade discussions ahead of Thursday's deadline.
The television station WFTV in Orlando first reported the news. Howard and members of the Magic front office met in San Antonio—where the Magic face the Spurs tonight—to discuss his future. At that point, the notion of Howard choosing not to exercise his opt-out, and becoming a free agent in the summer of 2013, instead of this summer, was raised.
The Orlando Sentinel’s Brian Schmitz reported on Twitter, “Source tells me that Dwight Howard did tell teammates he would stay another year, but has yet to tell Magic management.”
But, Schmitz adds, the Magic "aren't quite believing story of Dwight telling teammates until they see Dwight's name and agent's name in writing."
And one Magic players said, "Next year was not even mentioned in meeting...He told us he was 'all-in' for this season." Two other players told the site something similar.
Also at the meeting, according to Wojnarowski, Howard told each player what he needed to do for Magic to win a title.
Howard, who lodged a trade request in December (with the Nets, Lakers and Mavericks as his preferred destinations), said on Tuesday after the Magic beat the Heat that he hoped to stay with the team through the rest of the season and make a run at a championship. He did not indicate any commitment beyond that, however.
Sticking around one more year will, at least, put the conversation about Howard’s future on hold until next season. That would be the same path that point guard Chris Paul took when he was traded to the Clippers in December. Rather than committing to a long-term extension with the team, Paul simply agreed not to exercise his opt-out this summer.
The reported move by Howard figures to have a wide-ranging impact, starting with the Nets, who had pinned their hopes on pairing him with point guard Deron Williams as the team's marquee attraction when it moves to Brooklyn for next season. The Nets had been trying hard to trade for Howard all season, but could not come up with the assets.
That is still not out of the realm of possibility, though. Howard might have committed to the Magic for next season, but he will still have free agency looming, and Orlando will spend next year in much the same position this year—and that could mean a trade of Howard this summer rather than at next year's trading deadline. Of course, if the Magic can put together a trade that bolster's the team's roster to Howard's liking, there is the chance, however unlikely, that the team can convince him to stay in Orlando long-term.
If the Nets are unable to wind up with Howard through a summer trade, the team will have to worry about its ability to hang onto Williams, who will be pursued by the Mavericks—his hometown team—this summer. Dallas, with star forward Dirk Nowitzki in place, and just a year removed from its championship run, would provide Williams a better shot at winning in the short term.
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