NBA Trade Rumors: Dwight Howard Trade Request Still Stands

Otis Smith may be done talking to other teams about trading Dwight Howard, but that doesn't mean that Dwight Howard is done wanting to be dealt. Seeing Chris Paul land in his new digs undoubtedly has Howard wanting to go even more. 

According to the Orlando Sentinel, this isn't the sort of back-and-forth trade demand that Smith implies.

He is sticking by his request to be traded from the Orlando Magic.

"It still stands," Howard said.

Asked whether he fluctuates day to day, he answered, "There is no back-and-forth."

That doesn't sound like equivocating to me. Howard wants out. He wants to go to New Jersey. Another season won't help. Maybe he needs to use more short sentences like that to drive the point home. 

Perhaps a part of the problem here is that Howard is not the only one who is seeing what happened across the country in Los Angles. Maybe Otis Smith is hoping to get the same kind of package for Howard that the Hornets got for Paul. 

Here's the problem with that, though. Howard only wants to go to three teams, and none of them have the assets that the Clippers have. 

Dallas is banking on there not being a trade and is trying to position themselves to be able to get both Howard and Williams next offseason. The Lakers are offering Bynum without Gasol and taking on Turkoglu's contract. 

The Sentinel article points out that the Nets had come close to a deal that would have sent the Magic Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace as well as getting rid of two bad contracts in Chris Duhon and Hedo Turkoglu. That's not a bad deal. It's not a great deal. It's certainly not the Clippers' deal, but it's better than what the Lakers are offering and it's better than what the Mavericks can offer. 

Otis Smith needs to realize one thing: Howard is not staying in Orlando. That boat has sailed. That bridge has burned. I'd use more trite metaphors, but I think I've made the point. Orlando is Ducky. It's time to move on.