NBA Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard Still on Golden State Warriors' Radar

Dwight Howard is still a member of the Orlando Magic, but teams like the Golden State Warriors are looking to change that sooner rather than later.

The fact is, it’s going to have to be sooner, because the trade deadline is going to be upon us before we know it, and unless the Magic have some tricks up their sleeves, they will be in a lot of trouble.

I highly doubt the Magic are going to be able to get Howard to re-sign with them.

It’s not that it’s an impossible task, it’s just extremely unrealistic.

We all knew that the day would come when Howard’s contract would near its end, but I don’t think many people expected him to be so open about wanting out of Orlando.

He came out and stated that he wanted to go to either New Jersey, the Mavericks or to the Lakers, and at that point, all hope seemed lost for the Magic franchise.

While trade talks have cooled down, the request apparently still stands, and obviously teams aren’t going to stop pursuing the dominant forward.

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes that while the Warriors weren’t on Howard’s list, they are still actively looking to make a move for a star, and Howard is still on their list:

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The Warriors, led by determined owner Joe Lacob, continue to send signals across the league that they will aggressively look to upgrade the roster with a superstar. After falling short in their pursuit of Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and Nene during post-lockout free agency, sources say Lacob is determined to make a run at bigger prizes between now and the March 15 trade deadline -- including the Magic's soon-to-be free agent, Dwight Howard.

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It seems inevitable that Howard will be traded.

The Magic know all too well what could happen if they ride out this year and allow him to test free agency, and most logic would tell you that they won’t take that risk.

While the Warriors may not be a marquee franchise, it is worth nothing that they are “aggressively looking to upgrade”, and there is no doubting that going after Howard is pretty aggressive.

Eventually, the Magic will have no choice and will have to pull the trigger on a trade to unload Howard, so keep an eye on just how “aggressive” the Warriors want to be.

He could garner a whole lot of trade value, or he could walk in free agency and leave the Magic empty-handed.

You do the math on what the more realistic result will be.

Will Golden State be on the other end of that deal?

At this point, your guess is just as good as mine.