The Warriors and Hawks may be interested in making a play for Dwight Howard in the next two weeks, even without a guarantee that he'd sign long-term. For his part, Howard would like the Magic to try to acquire Steve Nash, and could perhaps be convinced to stay in Orlando a little longer if such a trade happens. Those were a few of the Howard rumors we heard yesterday. We'll track Thursday's updates here throughout the day, with the latest up top:
- The Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins reports that Magic CEO Alex Martins has continued to engage Howard in discussions about the future, athough Martins was hesitant to divulge what exactly has been discussed in these meetings.
- Robbins also wonders if Howard has expressed a willingness to stay in Orlando if the Magic acquire certain players, or if reports of Orlando's interest in Steve Nash and Monta Ellis simply suggest the Magic are making a Hail Mary play to convince Dwight to stay.
- The Magic could do worse than Brook Lopez in a Howard trade, writes Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.
- The Magic are making trade inquiries, but they're trying to acquire talent around Howard, rather than shopping their star center, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. If Orlando isn't able to bolster its roster around Howard, that stance could change, but for now, a D12 deal appears unlikely, Kennedy adds (via Twitter).
- One player the Magic are pursuing is Monta Ellis, though Marcus Thompson II reported yesterday that the Warriors aren't interested in trading Ellis to Orlando without acquiring Howard. I'm also in agreement with Kennedy when he notes (on Twitter) that the Magic probably don't have the assets, besides Howard, to get an Ellis deal done. Still, the fact that Orlando is involving Howard in the decision-making process is a step in the right direction for the Magic, tweets Kennedy.