5:45pm: Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal cites a team executive involved in the discussions between the Lakers and Magic who says that both teams have been talking about Dwight for weeks but haven't been making much progress. Lloyd also references an Eastern Conference executive who believes that the Magic are in no hurry to move Howard and are holding out for the Rockets to improve their offer.
4:24pm: The Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin offer sheets won't affect the Rockets' discussions for Howard, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. However, reports that Houston would take on all of Orlando's bad contracts in a Howard deal are "ridiculous," tweets SI.com's Chris Mannix.
Feigen also notes that the Magic/Lakers talks would likely involve the Rockets as a third team (Twitter link), while Mannix cautions that both Howard and Bynum would have to agree to sign long-term with their new teams before any trade could happen (Twitter link).
1:57pm: Talks between the Lakers and Magic are ongoing, but a Howard trade would be "very tough to pull off," a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). That news isn't surprising — I briefly outlined below why the two teams aren't an ideal match.
11:02am: The Lakers are "pushing hard" to acquire Dwight Howard and are meeting with the Magic today to discuss a possible deal, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). According to Spears, the Lakers continue to seek a long-term commitment from Howard.
Weekend reports indicated that the Lakers and Magic were involved in Howard talks that also included the Cavaliers, though Cleveland seems to have disengaged from those discussions. While the Lakers' Andrew Bynum is a better centerpiece than rival suitors can offer for D12, it's still hard to imagine the Lakers and Magic consummating a deal without involving at least one more team. The Magic are seeking cap relief, young talent, and draft picks in any Howard trade, and outside of Bynum, L.A. can't offer that. The Lakers included four picks in their sign-and-trade for Steve Nash, and are over the luxury tax line, making it difficult for them to take on any bad contracts.
The Magic recently put Howard trade talks on the backburner while they search for a new head coach, but are still fielding offers from interested teams. The Rockets are also seriously pursuing the star center, reportedly offering a package that included recent draftees, future picks, and cap relief. However, Houston does not currently have a meeting set up to discuss Howard with the Magic, tweets Spears.
As for the Nets, having recently re-signed Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries, they appear to be out of the Howard sweepstakes until at least January. But as ESPN.com's John Hollinger points out, Humphries' sizable first-year salary could make it easier for the Nets to put together a package for Howard that lets them take back a few of Orlando's undesirable contracts. Of course, that scenario assumes Howard is still playing for the Magic in the new year, which is far from a certainty.
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if orlando wanted anything the nets wanted the deal would of been done already .. the nets have no way to make their offer any better .. if they wanted they could of just signed and traded g wallace and not done that dumb deal for joe johnson they gave up way to much for a guy atlanta wanted to give up anyways ..
Nets offered there entire roster and it did not get done.
exactly .. the nets are done which is why i didnt get the whole .. well we will listen if the nets have any new offers .. what the hell was there left new to offer .. only d will and thats it ..
Orlando said that just for public image. Everyone knew after that trade got nixed that no deal would happen and Orlando didn’t want to look like the bad guy in rejecting the offer.
yeah thats probably true .. so if your the magic would you trade howard for k perkins,james hardin , serge ibaka,p jones and picks ?
i dont think the thunder would give both harden and ibaka plus i highly doubt howard would extend and the thunder would be shooting them selves in the foot
Because the nets entire roster was bad.
Forget Howard ain’t no tellin how he gon be now after his surgery.
The best trade would be to do a three-team trade with the Lakers, the Magic, and the Rockets, where the Lakers receive Howard and the Rockets receive Bynum.
Not sure what Lakers can offer. Old guys and AB. Not going to happen. But sports writers seem to keep coming up with new rumors.
does anyone think the lakers would trade kobe for dwight?
Kobe’s got a no-trade clause.
No.
yeah i didnt think so either .. but howard does have alot more years left in him ..
A few things. Kobe is the face of that franchise and still playing at an elite level. He has a full no trade and was key in them getting Nash. If the lakers want to win they need Kobe. And it wouldn’t work anyway because the salaries wouldn’t match up Kobe is scheduled to make 50-60 million over the next 2 season.
LMAO…
If the Cavs don’t want Bynum… Then they don’t wanna win…. & Dan Gilbert is a fraud!!! Who is they center now??
Why take on bad contracts and trade draft picks/players for Bynum when they can get him next year as an unrestricted free agent? He has already said he wants to sign with them.
He has said the same about Houston too it’s probably just leverage
its pretty clear no one wants to come to houston ..
earlier bynum said he would sign an extension if traded to the rockets
because do you honestly think he is going to leave the lakers and 25 million on the table to go to cleveland?
No, I dishonestly think that.
He said its one of the teams he would sign an extension and his relationship with the Lakers hasn’t been great.
4 team deal makes sense for both teams. Involves lakers,magic,bulls,rockets.
Bulls get pau, future 2nd round pick from rockets
Lakers get Dwight and boozer
Rockets get Bynum(he stated he would extend there) rip Hamilton, hediu(expiring deal)
Magic get bobcats pick from the bulls, and torontos pick from Houston and first round picks from houston.
Why it makes sense. The lakers have been wanting to move pau as he and Kobe no longer get along. The lakers also get about 3 million in salary relief plus the pick being sent to Orlando helps this trade. The bulls get an upgrade in pau who has openly said he want to play for Chicago. Houston gets the second best center in the league and a solid shooting guard on an expiring deal hediu is good but over paid and is expiring. The magic get out of the Dwight issue and get about 30 mill in cap space plus some very good picks 2 potential #1 picks. The lakers yes down grade in boozer but his game would play very well with Dwight and again they get Dwight.
not happening. lakers front office is excited to see pau thrive in p&r situations with nash and have pulled him off the market. and no freaking way lake show trades pau and bynum to end up with boozer yikes…..
boozer isnt bad just over paid and again it could make a dwight deal easier to get..with the being said ill change it up a bit…bulls get Pau-and world peace and a future first round pick lakers get boozer and deng
lakers starting lineup PG-Nash SG-Kobe SF-Deng(eubanks untill deng comes back) PF Boozer C- Dwight…this would get it done kobe loves deng, if that whole kobe to the bulls rumors a few years back was true and not just kobe trying to get a new contract, the only reason kobe didnt go along with it is because he wanted to play along side with deng
listen jwsox, lakers have ZERO interest in carlos boozer and certainly are not trading Pau for him.
Hope it happens just to stop the soap opera insanity
enough already. “pushing hard” lol just hit ctrl c and save this story for next month. Same story since Dec. Lakers need to present a final offer and if declined sign Bynum to an extension and move on.
as a rockets fan anrew bynum doesnt really excite me .. he is really really slow ..
rockets have the best deal in place i think anyways ..
yeah, i see that you really want pau in chicago but i think it just complicates things for the lakers. bottom line is they either swap bynum for howard or they just simply hold onto him and extend him and build off him. no need for any other mucky trades. i really like deng too but i’m one of the laker fans who would really like to see what pau and nash are gonna look like this season.