NBA Trade Rumors: Teams That Will Pursue Dwight Howard If Latest Report Is False

The Dwight Howard saga continues to drag on, with the latest news revealing that trade talks are open once more. 

According to Fox Sports Ohio's Sam Amico, several league sources believe that Howard could be traded by the end of the week. 

The potential deal sends Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers and Andrew Bynum to the Cleveland Cavaliers, among other moving parts. 

However, if it doesn't happen, what's next? Which teams will pursue D12 if the report proves false?

Read on to find out. 

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the dark-horse contenders for the services of Dwight Howard for a while now, and nothing has changed. 

Danny Ferry can still offer Al Horford, Jeff Teague and some draft picks to the Orlando Magic and give them great young pieces to build around. Then, he'd have Dwight on his roster playing alongside Josh Smith and Anthony Morrow, two of his close friends in the NBA. 

Plus, Dwight is from Atlanta. 

Ferry blew up the Hawks roster with the intention of landing a star or two. He's not done making a play for Superman yet. 

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets can't make any trade for Dwight Howard until Brook Lopez is eligible to be traded—a change in status that will happen in December after he signed a max extension this offseason. 

As soon as the holiday season arrives, the rumors will start flying once more as Mikhail Prokhorov and Billy King re-engage the Orlando Magic with the intent of landing their coveted star center. 

If the Nets can land D12, they'll have the best starting five in the NBA. Throwing out Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Howard on a nightly basis is a scary proposition. 

Dallas Mavericks

Dwight Howard's plan at the moment—and we now know how often his plans change—is to sign with the Dallas Mavericks if he isn't traded to the Los Angeles Lakers or Brooklyn Nets. 

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski has the full scoop: 

"

"Dwight remained unchanged in his want to be traded," a source with knowledge of the meeting said. "And he has no intention of signing another contract extension with Orlando."

Dwight Howard remains steadfast in his demand to be traded to the Lakers.Without a deal that would deliver him to the Lakers in the near future, sources said Howard wants Henningan to revisit trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets in January, when center Brook Lopez is eligible to be traded. If deals don't surface with the Lakers or Nets, Howard plans to sign with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent in the summer of 2013.

"

Given the premise set forth in the opening slide of this article, Dallas would have to be considered the prohibitive favorites to land Howard next offseason. 

Houston Rockets

Daryl Morey will stop at nothing to get his hands on Dwight Howard. 

Everything that the Houston Rockets general manager has done this offseason has been with the intention of convincing the Orlando Magic to trade Howard to his team. He's made a number of trades already and won't be done yet if there's any shot at acquiring the big man. 

Houston's roster is a mess right now, with way too many young players vying for spots.

Los Angeles Lakers

Even if the current trade talks fall through once more, the Los Angeles Lakers should continue to pursue Dwight Howard and hope that Rob Hennigan eventually caves. 

With Andrew Bynum at center, the Lakers are title contenders. With Howard at center, the Lakers are title favorites. 

That, in a nutshell, is exactly why the Lakers shouldn't stop making an effort to acquire the big man. 

By making it clear that he wants a trade to either the Brooklyn Nets or Lakers, Howard is fueling the fire and making L.A. want his services even more.