NBA Rumors: Magic Should Deal Dwight Howard to Lakers Before Next Season

The clock is ticking, and if the Orlando Magic don't trade Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers, they are going to completely strike out in their quest to get something in return for their beleaguered star.

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski has the latest on Howard's requests/demands to the Magic:

"

Y! Sources: Dwight Howard tells Magic he wants trade to Los Angeles Lakers in short-term, Brooklyn Nets in longer. tinyurl.com/bo6wfre

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 26, 2012"

This move by Howard has to be in response to the recent news that ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported about the Magic considering the possibility of just keeping him through the 2012-2013 season.

The Nets could potentially try to rekindle trade talks with the Magic in January, when they'd be free to trade recently signed Brook Lopez, but there's no guarantee they'll even be interested in that deal. By that time, their team could potentially be playing so well together that to break it all up for Howard would be ludicrous.

No, the best chance for general manager Rob Hennigan to get a trade done that would at least come close to what he wants in return for Howard is with the Lakers.

Now.

NBA training camps start up in late September. It's already the end of July. Hennigan only has a couple of months to get a deal done before Howard becomes an even bigger problem for the Magic than he was last year when he got Stan Van Gundy fired (allegedly). 

Making things more complicated for the Magic, ESPN.com's Chris Broussard recently reported that the Lakers have begun preliminary talks with Andrew Bynum's agent about signing him to an extension.

It's a shrewd move from Mitch Kupchak, because it puts even more pressure on Hennigan to get moving on his end to trade Howard. 

The window is closing on the Magic's ability to get a deal done with the Lakers, and if that falls through, they might be stuck with a pouty Superman for the entire 2012-2013 NBA season.

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