NBA Trade Rumors: Easily Distracted Dwight Howard Is Too Risky to Acquire

The NBA offseason has been dominated by talks of potential Dwight Howard trades, but any smart front office should avoid the flighty center.

Howard has been making demands about his future since the beginning of last season. He has handcuffed the Orlando Magic by proclaiming that he will not re-sign with the team under any circumstances. The organization now has no choice but to trade its star player in order to receive some return for the future.

Normally, this would not be a problem. A star of Howard's caliber would usually cause teams to part with plenty of draft picks and young players that would help both teams in the future. Unfortunately, this particular star refuses to make a decision about his own future.

In the beginning of July, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Howard would only re-sign with one team, presumably the Brooklyn Nets. In the past few weeks, he has warmed up to the idea of signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as well.

Now, Howard states that the Dallas Mavericks are also in play as a potential destination, according to Wojnarowski. Apparently, the all star wants to play alongside Dirk Nowitzki if no other trade materializes.

Therefore, he will sign with one of these three teams, depending on which is willing to trade for him, right?

Not so fast. According to his agent Dan Fegan (via ESPN), "He fully intends to explore free agency at the end of next season, regardless of what team trades for him, including Brooklyn."

The Magic want to trade him because he will not stay with the team, but he offers no guarantees to anyone that he will stay past this season. In that case, why would anyone want to part with the future for what could amount to be a rental player?

The three-time defensive player of the year has plenty of talent and could make any team into a contender. However, he simply cannot be trusted as someone to build a franchise around.

All of the teams that have been trying to acquire Howard this summer should stop now and try their best to sign him when he becomes a free agent at the end of next season.

This seems to be the only way to have security in the future.

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