NBA Rumors: Magic Will Regret Killing Dwight Howard Trade Talks

With Chris Paul going to the Los Angeles Clippers, one superstar who seemed to be stuck has been moved.

We will not see another superstar moved this offseason.

Per a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Orlando Magic have informed teams around the NBA that they no longer want to talk about trading Dwight Howard, and that they plan to embark on the 2011-2012 season with him on their roster.

That means that somewhere in the greater Orlando area, Howard is standing and saying, "Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffff."

Wojnarowski says Howard told teammates on Tuesday that he thought a trade to the New Jersey Nets was a “done deal,” and a league source told Yahoo! Sports that Howard is pretty ticked that he's not being moved.

“Dwight’s not a happy camper,” said the source.

The trade the Magic had in place with the Nets would have landed them center Brook Lopez, Portland Trail Blazers forward Gerald Wallace, point guard Jordan Farmar and a first-round draft pick. The deal was all set to go until it reached Magic ownership, at which point it was mercilessly executed.

There are a couple of reasons the Magic decided that they could kill the Nets deal. One is that they could easily reopen trade talks, perhaps in an effort to pry Pau Gasol and/or Andrew Bynum from the Los Angeles Lakers. Or maybe they could work out a deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

They also apparently still think there's a shot of them keeping Howard beyond this season. This despite the fact he's a free agent once the season is over, and has made it clear enough that his heart is not in Orlando. He occasionally hints that it is, but there's too much evidence that says otherwise.

The writing is on the wall: If the Magic don't trade Howard by the March 15 deadline, he's gone.

If the Magic wait until then, they'll regret it. Knowing he'll walk at the end of the season, the Magic will be considerably more desperate to make a deal, and any GM worth his salt will know how to take advantage of that. A deal the Magic could get for Howard later probably won't be as strong as a deal they could get for him now.

The Magic should also be wary of getting too excited about Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. One is old and the other is injury-prone. We're going to be reminded of that much as the season creeps towards the deadline.

If the deadline passes and Howard is still in a Magic uniform, he's as good as gone.

Might he be convinced over the course of the season that Orlando is where he belongs? There's a chance, but only a chance. It's certainly not likely. It is therefore quite foolish for the Magic to hold out hope.

Make no mistake, it's going to take a miracle to keep Howard in Orlando.

If ownership is looking for a miracle, they're better off trying the nearby amusement park.