Magic Trade Rumors: Orlando Must Milk Nets' Desperation for Dwight Howard

A sucker has emerged.

The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly willing to sell the farm to bring Dwight Howard to NYC. This is what the Orlando Magic have been waiting for. They must milk the Nets for all they are worth and pull the trigger once they’ve drained them of their assets.

Chris Broussard of ESPN reported that, according to sources, Brooklyn and Orlando are discussing a swap of Dwight Howard for Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and not one, not two, but three first-round picks (LeBron James voice).

Lopez is a defensive sieve and a pitiful rebounder, but he’s still in the top half of centers in the NBA. Brooks is terribly inefficient, but he was still third in scoring among rookies. Humphries may or may not be playing for a contract, but regardless, averaging a double-double in two straight campaigns is impressive anyway you look at it.

While the package of players that the Nets are presenting isn’t the most attractive offer in the world (Michael Lee of the Washington Post labeled it the “Brook Lopez poo-poo platter”), Orlando would be nuts to pass on a trio of first-round picks. Sure, Brooklyn will most likely win a few games if Billy King achieves his dream core of Howard, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, but still. That’s six players for one—such a swap has the potential to go down as a Herschel Walker-like deal for the Magic.

If they’re able to persuade the Nets to take Hedo Turkoglu’s contract off their hands, Orlando couldn’t make the deal much more lopsided. Which to that, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reports:

"

In a potential deal with Orlando, source says Nets would be willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu.

— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) July 3, 2012"

Brooklyn’s offer is definitely strong enough for the Magic to accept. If Orlando doesn’t receive a better one, they’d be foolish to decline the Nets’.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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