NBA Trade Rumors: Don't Believe Latest Dwight Howard Rumor

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Dwight Howard might be traded soon.

The latest rumor comes from Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer John Ireland. Per LakersNation.com, Ireland said on 710 ESPN Radio on Monday that he heard a rumor from a source that Howard is going to be traded as soon as Tuesday.

But not to the Lakers. This particular rumor has Howard going to the New Jersey Nets.

This particular rumor is also, in essence, a rumor of a rumor. More than anything, it is an educated guess.

Um...yeah...

With all due respect to Ireland, there's too much evidence to the contrary here. It's been less than a week since the Orlando Magic informed teams that Howard isn't going anywhere. According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Magic were clear that they planned on starting the season with Howard in their starting lineup.

For Howard to be traded, one of two things would have to happen.

One is that the Nets would have to make the Magic an offer they simply can't refuse. This would mean bettering their original offer of Brook Lopez, Portland Trail Blazers forward Gerald Wallace, Jordan Farmar and a first-round draft pick, a package that was pretty good to begin with.

Either that, or the Magic would have to have a sudden change of heart, deciding once and for all that they should get what they can while they can.

Either of these things could happen, but I need to hear it from a slightly more reliable source before I'm willing to believe it. If there is solid information out there, something tells me it would come from Wojnarowski, Chris Broussard, Marc Stein, Ken Berger or Sam Amick before it came from a radio play-by-play man.

Because that's not the case, I'm forced to conclude that Ireland's information does not qualify as "solid." This is, of course, assuming he has any information at all.

Long story short, take this latest rumor with a huge grain of salt.

In fact, save yourself some trouble and just don't believe it at all. There will be legit Howard rumors down the line, but this one is as flimsy as they come.