Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: World Goes Back to Spinning as Howard Waives ETO

After what transpired over the last 24 hours, we really cannot be certain that Dwight Howard actually wants to stay with the Orlando Magic for the foreseeable future.

But on Thursday, he put his signature on a piece of paper signifying that he has finally made up his mind. 

Mere hours before the NBA trade deadline (3:00 p.m. ET), Howard formally waived the early termination option in his contract that would have allowed him to opt out to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the decision became final early Thursday afternoon, though it was a late-night report from RealGM.com that truly sealed the deal. Howard had flip-flopped and flip-flopped and flip-flopped again on his decision on Wednesday, but he confirmed to RealGM's Jarrod Rudolph that he was going to commit to Orlando for at least one more season.

"Man, listen, you know my heart, my soul and everything I have is in Orlando," Howard said. "I just can't leave it behind." 

Howard's decision to stick with the Magic was formally announced in a press conference that featured a tired-looking Howard and a couple of tired-looking Orlando executives. Howard reiterated that he has a lot of love for the city of Orlando, and he wanted everyone to know how hard things have been for him.

“It’s been very tough for me the past couple of months to make a decision," he said, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel. "I’ve gone back and forth. It’s not as easy as people think. It’s very hard.”

For the record, the paperwork has been filed. Howard cannot suddenly decide that he would rather opt out after this season. There will be no last-minute deadline deal. 

The Howard trade circus is officially over.

There is only one word that is perfectly apt for the situation: Phew...

A Western Conference executive who spoke to Yahoo! Sports said it best: “This is a historic debacle.”

Indeed it was. On numerous occasions over the last several months, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before Howard was going to be traded. In fact, Wojnarowski reported in December that there was a deal in place to send Howard to the New Jersey Nets—one that was ultimately nixed by ownership. The idea was for the organization to allow itself more time to talk Howard into staying. If the effort failed, Howard could always be traded ahead of the deadline.

Amazingly, things worked out in Orlando's favor, though it took a lot of twists and turns and an absurd amount of indecisiveness from Howard himself for things to arrive at today's result.

The Magic got the result they wanted, but nobody should make the mistake of thinking that the circus is entirely over for good. Howard has committed to the Magic for next season, but the matter of signing him to an extension to keep him in Orlando long-term remains. He has delayed free agency by a year, not several years.

Right now, there is no real buzz about the Magic finding themselves in the same kind of trade mess with Howard this time next season, but it's entirely possible that they could. Wojnarowski wrote in his report that the Magic "fear losing him in free agency without receiving any real compensation," and there's little reason to think their stance will change next season if Howard hasn't yet signed an extension.

For now, the drama is over, but it won't be over for good until Howard shows that he really wants to stay in Orlando.

The only way he can do that is by signing another piece of paper.