NBA Trade Rumors: New Jersey Nets May Be out of Dwight Howard Trade Sweepstakes

The plan seemed simple for the New Jersey Nets.

Acquire Dwight Howard, re-sign Deron Williams and contend in the Eastern Conference for years.

Their latest offer, which included the Portland Trail Blazers, seemed good enough to come close to getting a deal done.

A deal that includes Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace, plenty of cap relief and a possible five total first-round picks going in different directions seems like a good package compared to what some of the superstars around the league have been dealt for in recent years.

If that isn't enough to pry Howard away form Orlando, then they realistically can't go much higher.

Add to that the fact that Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith has temporarily pulled Howard off the market, who could blame the Nets for pulling out of the negotiations?

The Nets are practically being held hostage by the Magic, with the "one day Howard is available and the next day he's not" tactics.

There comes a time when they need to consider going another route all together and find a different way to keep Williams in a Nets uniform. Otherwise, if they are completely committed to landing Howard they may be forced to overpay even more for him.

The wise thing to do is to back out of the Howard negotiations all together. If the Magic get serious about shopping Howard closer to the trade deadline, the price may not be as steep.