Orlando Magic Trade Rumors Tracker: Latest Updates Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline

With the trade deadline quickly approaching the NBA's hottest trade commodity is still on the market. We're keeping track of all the latest trade rumors here. Is Howard going somewhere else or is someone else coming to Orlando?

Right now it's hard to tell what is going to happen but one thing is for certain, Otis Smith is on the phone. 

Here are the latest rumors and what the Magic might be doing. 

Lakers off of Dwight's List

According to John Ireland of ESPN the Los Angeles Lakers are off of Dwight Howard's list. What this means for the Magic is that the chances of Howard not going anywhere before the trade deadline just went up significantly. 

It's still possible he could be traded to LA but there's a long way from could be to might be and even further still to will be. The Lakers simply are not going to give up Andrew Bynum for a six week rental. 

So that leaves the choices for the Magic between "Brook Lopez and others" and nothing. 

That means he is probably going to be finishing the season as a Magic. That also means that loud "Yiiiiihaaaaahhh" sound you hear emanating from the West is the celebration of Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks who just took one Texas sized step closer to acquiring both Howard and Williams next year. 

Monta Ellis to Magic

According to ESPN, 

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The Orlando Magic have reached out to the Golden State Warriors about trading for Monta Ellis,according to league sources. No deal is imminent, but Orlando is trying to add Ellis to its roster in hopes of appeasing Dwight Howard. Rather than aggressively pursuing a trade of Howard before the March 15 deadline, the Magic are desperately seeking a move that will convince Howard he can stay in Orlando. 

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Essentially this comes down to what sounds like an Abbot and Costello routine. The Magic want Ellis to come play with Howard so that they don't have to trade away Howard, but the Warriors are looking to trade Ellis for Howard. 

So the Warriors would love to trade Ellis to Orlando but only for Howard and the Magic would love to receive Ellis for anyone but Howard. 

So the long and short of this is that Ellis and Howard aren't going to be teammates, and aren't going to be swapped. 

Dwight Howard to New Jersey Nets

Dwight Howard's list, realistically is down to one. The Dallas Mavericks simply don't have enough to get him. The Nets don't have enough either but they have more than the Magic are going to get from the Lakers without assurances Howard is going to extend, and they have more than the Mavericks have regardless. 

The latest reports are though that Howard might be content to wait. 

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Howard's preference would be to sign with New Jersey as a free agent, thereby allowing the Nets to keep the solid role players -- Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Jordan Farmar and Anthony Morrow -- they'd have to trade to get him before March 15.

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I've wondered why teams don't this sort of thing before. Why make a team gut itself to get you when you can just sign via free agency. How much better would the Knicks be if Anthony had just signed as a free agent?

Can you imagine Deron Williams running an offence with Brooks at the 2, Lopez at the 4 and Howard at the 5? That could be a pretty special team. It doesn't even matter who would be filling in at small forward. 

Steve Nash to Orlando

The Magic's best solution might be to try and make a play for Steve Nash, one of the best point guard in the history of the game. It would at least appease Howard enough to pick up his contract according to HoopsWorld, 

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The Orlando Magic has made offers for Nash in the past and sources close to the situation say that they’ll attempt to acquire the 16-year veteran in the next two weeks. Dwight Howard has asked the front office to pursue Nash and sources close to Howard believe he won’t exercise his early termination option if the team is able to acquire Nash and re-sign him this summer. 

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The catch here is that it might cost the Magic Derek Anderson to get him. It's probably worth it either way, but the idea of Nash feeding the ball inside to Howard, and flipping out to Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson, is downright impressive.