NBA Rumors and News Roundup: Dwight Howard Trade Request Stands and More

Dwight Howard still wants to be traded out of Orlando and away from the Magic, while Deron Williams held nothing back when giving an honest assessment of how the New Jersey Nets look on the basketball court.

In addition to a litany of injuries piling up around the league, Howard and Williams aren't the only big names who find themselves in the headlines.

There is no question that fans will be monitoring the Howard situation closely throughout the season, and that's why he leads the news and rumors roundup to kick off week three of the NBA season.

Gilbert Arenas

Arenas has drawn absolutely no interest around the league after being waived via the amnesty clause by Orlando prior to the beginning of the regular season.

The veteran point guard isn't ready to hang it up, as he just turned 30 years old, but Magic general manager (and Arenas' friend) Otis Smith said that the veteran is trying to get his knee in order before returning to the league.

Arenas doesn't want or need his stock to sink any lower around the NBA, so there's no doubt he'll look to get as healthy as he can prior to coming back.

Michael Beasley

Beasley is dealing with a mid-foot sprain which currently has him on the sidelines, and the T-Wolves decimated the hapless Washington Wizards on Sunday without him.

The game saw Ricky Rubio rack up a career-high 14 assists, and coach Rick Adelman said after the game that there was better ball movement.

He suggested that it was because Beasley was on the sidelines, and while he may have been joking, it's hard to ignore Beasley's isolation style of basketball and how it doesn't really mesh with Adelman's system all that well.

Eric Maynor

Maynor has established himself as a very nice piece for the Thunder, and his presence on the floor allows the team to continue the attack without skipping a beat.

Unfortunately for the VCU product, he suffered the dreaded non-contact knee injury and was subsequently diagnosed with a torn ACL.

Rookie Reggie Jackson will step into his role and Russell Westbrook will play all the minutes he can handle, but nonetheless, it's a tough blow to the Oklahoma City squad.

Chase Budinger

Budinger was a dark horse for some to be the long-term answer for the starting small forward job in Houston, but he just doesn't have the skill set for that.

He's lazy on defense, settles for jumpers way too often and his game is just too limited to make a consistent impact at the highest level.

With Courtney Lee about to return from his calf injury, Budinger could very well fall out of the rotation entirely.

He's already ceded his starting spot to rookie second-round pick Chandler Parsons.

Ben Wallace

Wallace was a force in the paint for the Pistons for several years, but this season is going to be his last in the league.

The veteran defender revealed that he plans to retire after the season, and that shouldn't come as an unexpected surprise.

He's averaging just 13 minutes of playing time this year and will be 38 by the time the 2012-13 campaign begins.

Deron Williams

Williams has been rather blunt in his assessment of the Nets thus far, and he didn't hold back after the team suffered another loss.

D-Will said, "our offense sucks," and offered a variety of reasons as to exactly why that is the case.

Obviously, the Brook Lopez injury really hurts this team on the court, but the Nets have to be concerned that the window to sign Williams to a long-term extension is rapidly closing.

Brook Lopez

When Lopez initially sustained the break in his foot, the Nets were hopeful that he'd be back on the court sometime around the middle of February.

Coach Avery Johnson confirmed that timetable over the weekend and said that Lopez is "right on schedule" for the starting center to return to action.

There is always the possibility of an unforeseen complication along the way, but for the time being, it sounds like Lopez could return for about half of New Jersey's regular season.

Kevin Love

Love has been a beast for Minnesota this season, and he's really putting an amazing effort up on a nightly basis.

Averaging 25.4 points, 15.0 rebounds and more than two three-pointers made per game, Love's play has fans wondering just how long Minnesota is going to wait to submit a maximum contract extension offer in his direction.

Minnesota is indeed planning to submit their bid to Love's camp prior to the Jan. 25 deadline to do so, and it will be interesting to see how the power forward plays his hand when it happens.

Rashard Lewis

Lewis was ruled out of Sunday's embarrassing loss to Minnesota because of a knee injury prior to tipoff.

However, Washington was less than truthful in the initial reasoning as to why he didn't play.

The starting small forward allegedly got into a heated argument with assistant coach Sam Cassel, and as a result, didn't suit up for the team.

The Wizards are 0-8, and there has to be significant changes ahead.

Andrew Bogut

Bogut has been out with personal issues for Milwaukee, and the team has been very tight-lipped about exactly why he has been away from the court.

Regardless, the starting center is expected to return to action on Tuesday for the Bucks, and that will be a very pleasant sight, as the club currently sits at a less than desirable 2-6 for the season.

Bogut is averaging 14.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks to begin the year.

Dwyane Wade

Wade has been attempting to get his sore right foot right in order to risk further injury, and as a result, he's sat out the last three games.

Erik Spoelstra said that Wade is feeling "significantly better," and it's hard to imagine Wade missing much more time if he misses any at all.

Miami is typically pretty cryptic with injury updates, so for Spoelstra to come out and publicly state Wade is vastly improved, the shooting guard has to be inching very close to a return.

Dwight Howard

There was a report over the weekend out of Orlando which stated that "multiple NBA sources" had confirmed Howard was wavering on his trade request away from the Magic.

A subsequent report from Yahoo! Sports quoted Howard as saying "nothing has changed" in regards to his stance about being dealt to a new team.

Howard very obviously wants a larger market, and the consistent misinformation in the trade saga has sadly become the norm.

Everyone wants an answer, but Howard doesn't expect to be traded before the All-Star game.

We'll just have to wait.