Dwight Howard Staying with Orlando Magic a Nightmare for New Jersey Nets

It appears all the Dwight Howard trade rumors can be put to bed as the Orlando Magic center plans on signing a waiver on his Early Termination Option (ETO) and will remain with the Magic through next season.

This is a nightmare for the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets were banking on the fact that Howard would eventually be traded or sign with the team at some point this year or during the offseason. But now that he has decided to commit to Orlando, New Jersey finds themselves in major trouble.

Deron Williams, the Nets all-world point guard, will hit the free-agent market after this season and was thought to be a shoo-in to stay with the Nets when the team moved to Brooklyn as long as D12 was coming as well.

But now that D12 isn't coming this season, Williams and the Nets both have major decisions to make.

For Williams: does he stay in New Jersey? Can he bank on the fact that the Nets can surround him with enough talent and another superstar in order to bring home a title in Brooklyn?

And for the Nets: do they look to move their All-Star point guard before the rapidly approaching trade deadline?

If not, the Nets run the risk of letting D-Will walk after this season and in turn, will have nothing to show for the boatload of talent and picks they sent to the Utah Jazz in order to acquire him.

They would be forced to start with nothing next season and have to once again rebuild before they even got to rebuild in the first place. A roster sporting Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks and Kris Humphries is far less appealing than one with D12 and D-Will.

No matter what happens after this, the Nets are in the midst of a nightmare scenario that up until 24 hours ago, didn't look so bad.

The clock is ticking on this decision and by 3 p.m. ET today, we'll know if the Nets plan on rolling the dice or taking a safer approach.