Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Report Says Magic End Talks for D12

The Dwight Howard trade saga has taken a sudden turn and it may be the last one we see for a while.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that discussions between the Magic and potential suitors have broken down:

Howard is in the final year of a five-year, $80M deal and has been rather vocal about his displeasure with the moves the Magic have made over the last few years.

G.M. Otis Smith decided to take on Hedo Turkoglu’s five-year, $53M contract that runs through 2014. They paid Gilbert Arenas a large chunk of his absurd $111M contract. The worst deal of all may have been shelling out $118.2M over six years to Rashard Lewis, who is widely considered to be one of the most overpaid players in the game (now with the Washington Wizards).

Howard had told the media he would only sign a long-term contract with the Magic, Mavericks, Lakers or Nets. This is the biggest sign yet that Howard is giving the only franchise he’s ever known six months to figure out how to keep him happy.

The Nets seemed to be the strongest suitors; with two first-round draft picks the meat of their proposal.  CBS Sports Ken Berger talks about how strong the Nets were pushing for a deal:

"

The Nets were "pushing hard" over the past 48 hours and accelerated the talks to the point where teams were being recruited to serve as a third or fourth team to provide Orlando with the kind of assets it would find acceptable if there was no other option but to trade Howard. However, a person with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday, "The Magic are in no rush to do anything." The team's top priority remains to find a way to keep Howard in Orlando.

League sources confirmed that talks between the Nets and Magic gained momentum in recent days and that New Jersey was working on a complicated set of scenarios to land Howard that could involve one or two other teams. But the biggest hurdle was uncertainty over whether the Magic are ready to give up on trying to persuade Howard to stay in Orlando.

"

Now the clock is ticking for the Magic to sway Howard. With one of the highest payrolls in the league, it’s not going to be easy. Smith is going to either turn into one of the best GM’s in the league or the worst in the next few months. It all depends on if he can bring in another star.

With Chris Paul and Deron Williams both set to be free agents this summer, it’s not completely out of the question.

My advice: no drunk dialing.