NBA Trade Rumors: Orlando Magic Must Ship Dwight Howard to Western Conference

While it looks as though the Orlando Magic will need a third team involved in order to send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets, not everyone around the NBA is so keen on the idea.

Perhaps Orlando shouldn't be either.

According to ESPN's Chris Broussard and Brian Windhorst, the fear stems from the belief that forming yet another superstar-laden team would make it that much harder for the merely mortal teams to reach the NBA Finals:

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Being the cog in creating another super team in Brooklyn, with Deron Williams and Joe Johnson already in the mix, is not palatable to some teams concerned about competitive balance.

"You can talk about the new (luxury) tax all you want, but if the Lakers get Nash and the Nets get Howard, then what did the new CBA accomplish?" one GM said. "You have to realize part of long-term planning is making sure you don't help create teams you can't beat."

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Though new Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan certainly has a mandate to improve his own roster by virtually any means necessary, there's a certain wisdom in this defensive posture.

As good as the Magic might be after three or four years of rebuilding, the Nets may be unbeatable by that time—to say nothing of how successful the Miami Heat will remain for the next few years.

The best argument for sending Dwight Howard to the Western Conference isn't that a deal would yield Andrew Bynum.

It's that it would get him out of the East.

Of course, that may be easier said than done. According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojanrowski, there simply may not be a deal to Orlando's like coming from out West:

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As much as Hennigan prefers to send Howard to a Western Conference team, the Magic keep coming back to the Nets as the best, safest package. Howard’s preferred trade partner – Brooklyn – has pushed into overdrive in offering up trade scenarios and options for the Magic, sources said.

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It certainly wouldn't be easy to pass up the best-available offer—not to mention what Orlando's weary fan base would think.

But, there has to be something out there.

According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the Dallas Mavericks are at least a one of the very few franchises Howard has any interest of joining for the long haul:

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That didn't take long: now being told not to count out DH still making his way to the Nets. So list now is: 1.(Nets) Mavs.

— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) July 3, 2012"

One quick look at the Mavericks' roster will tell you all you need to know about why Orlando has been focusing on its negotiations with the Nets. Mark Cuban's cupboard is embarrassingly bare.

Still, Dallas could offer a boatload of draft picks, including picks likely to have more value than Brooklyn's given that the Mavericks won't be especially good over the next few years (even with Howard). They could also offer a useful piece in Shawn Marion and perhaps a couple of prospects like Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones.

Those aren't exciting options, but there's something to be said for getting as many draft picks as possible and doing the rest of the rebuilding via the free-agent market.

Do the Nets really want to rebuild around Brook Lopez? Is this a contract they want occupying space for the foreseeable future? 

Forcing a trade doesn't make sense. A team like Dallas might not have players who are ready to contribute, but draft picks are a better asset for rebuilding teams anyway.

It's not a trade that would look especially good on paper, but it may be the best one in the long-term. Paradoxes do happen—even in the NBA.