NBA Trade Rumors: Can Orlando Maintain Financial Flexibility to Please Dwight?

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, rumors continue to swirl regarding Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. However, there is a good chance that what is rumored to happen, may not actually occur.

The latest rumor out on Monday afternoon according to Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com had the Orlando Magic looking to acquire Monta Ellis from the Golden State Warriors in a three-team trade that also involved the New Orleans Hornets. However the exact details of the trade were unknown as the three teams were reportedly still discussing trade scenarios.

What uniform will Dwight Howard wear come Thursday night? Will he still be a member of the Orlando Magic, or will he find himself being welcomed into another NBA city?

The Orlando Magic are reportedly looking to acquire another player that will keep Dwight Howard happy and hopefully in town for more than the remainder of this season. The Magic are no doubt trying very hard to see who is available on the trade market although they really do not possess assets that are in high demand.

One potentially devastating area that the Magic should be very careful of is not putting themselves in a tough salary cap situation that will hurt them down the road.

After watching all of the restrictions and limitations being placed in the new collective bargaining agreement, all movement is going to become more of a challenge to accomplish.

The Magic already made a mistake when they acquired Gilbert Arenas (who was eventually amnestied) from the Washington Wizards mid-season and Hedo Turkoglu from the Phoenix Suns. When they've wanted to make trades to improve their team, other teams have not been interested in veteran players with bloated contracts.

Howard is their future and a player with huge potential. The Magic should tread lightly whether they ultimately decide to hang on to Howard or to trade him elsewhere and start the post Dwight Howard era in Orlando.

At the end of the day the Magic have to maintain enough financial flexibility to stay afloat within the NBA.