NBA Trade Rumors: Deadline Dominos Hinge on Dwight Howard Deal

Dwight Howard's got some of the biggest shoulders in the NBA today. So it should come as no surprise that the trade market ahead of the March 15th deadline is resting on them.

Figuratively, anyway.

Whether/where Dwight moves may well play a pivotal role in determining who becomes available and which teams jump into the fray. Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos has already made it clear that he doesn't want to trade his franchise star (and rightfully so)

DeVos may have no other choice but to give GM Otis Smith the green light to do so if the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Jersey Nets and/or the Dallas Mavericks (among others) step forward with a "Godfather" offer.

As much as DeVos, 85, wants to see his beloved team succeed while he's still alive, he's likely well aware of just how dire the straits will be for the Magic if Howard walks in the offseason and leaves Orlando with nothing but a gaping hole in the middle.

The problem right now, though, is that the Magic aren't going to move Howard until after the All-Star Game, which the team and the city are hosting. This will leave just over two weeks for someone to engineer a blockbuster trade and allow the rest of the pieces to fall in place.

What pieces, you ask? That all depends on where Howard ends up.

If the Nets nab him, then you'll likely see another team or two (or three) getting in on the action to make such a deal work. Nets GM Billy King tried to swing a three-team deal for Howard involving the Portland Trailblazers, who would've sent Gerald Wallace to Florida as part of the plan.  

However, if the Lakers land him—for a package built around Andrew Bynum and/or Pau Gasol—then the Nets figure to move quickly to dump Deron Williams for whatever they can get, just one year after shipping picks and young players to the Utah Jazz to get him. Without Howard in the mix, D-Will is a virtual lock to leave New Jersey empty-handed in the summer, presumably on his way home to the Dallas Mavericks.

And since complete and utter mediocrity is not the way in which the Nets want to begin their tenure in Brooklyn, their front office figures to get as much for Williams as it can if that's what the situation comes down to.

Interestingly enough, such a scenario may well put Williams within the Lakers' reach. The backcourt black hole next to Kobe Bryant has become a crippling problem in LA, with the old (Derek Fisher), the young (Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris) and the injured (Steve Blake) all struggling to provide Mike Brown's team with much in the way of offensive production while struggling to contain opposing point guards defensively.

Swooping on D-Will would be something of a coup for Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, particularly in light of the slight dealt to his team by commissioner David Stern in the nixing of the original Chris Paul trade.

If, on the other hand, New Jersey decides to hang on to D-Will and/or the Lakers decide not to make the necessary sacrifices to get him, then expect to see Kupchak continue to kick the tires on lower-tier options like Ramon Sessions and Jonny Flynn.

Though, according to ESPN's Marc Stein, he remains hesitant to make any deal that might hinder his team's ability to acquire Howard if the Magic soften their stance.

For now, then, all eyes will be on Dwight Howard, waiting to see who blinks first in the pursuit of the brawny All-Star center.

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