With the Lakers preparing to play the Magic in Orlando tomorrow night, Dwight Howard will be returning to the city where he spent the first eight years of his NBA career. In advance of the game, Howard spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today and expressed some regrets about the way he handled the situation in his final year with the Magic.

"In Orlando, I handled a lot of stuff the wrong way," Howard said. "If any of those people in Orlando are upset with how I did it, I apologize for the way I handled it and the way it was handled in the media."

Here's more from Howard and the rest of the Pacific Division:

• Howard and Amick spoke about several other topics, including his recovery from back surgery and his recent comments about his former Magic teammates. USA Today has a transcript of the Q&A.
• Amnestying Pau Gasol this summer may be an option for the Lakers if the team can't find a suitable trade, says Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (via Sulia). Clearing Gasol's near-$20MM cap hit from the books wouldn't get the Lakers out of the tax, assuming they re-sign Howard, but it would greatly reduce their bill. Still, I'd be pretty shocked if it came to that for the Lakers and Gasol.
• Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee takes a look at the transition Patrick Patterson has been making as he takes on a new role with the Kings.
• Appearing on 710 ESPN in Seattle, Nate McMillan said he's "definitely looking to get back into coaching" and suggested that if the Kings were moved to Seattle, that job is one that would interest him. Eric Schmoldt of Sports Radio Interviews has the details.
• Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee provide an update on the latest news related to the Kings sale.

The latest news and notes from around the Pacific Division on Saturday morning:

• Tom Ziller of SBNation.com discusses the importance of David Stern's implication that the Maloofs have no leverage in the sale of the Kings to the Seattle or Sacramento groups.
• Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that Steve Nash is growing increasingly comfortable in his new role on the Lakers.
• Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports that Pau Gasol is still at least two weeks away from returning to action.
• Ric Bucher of CSNBayArea.com writes that the Kings traded for Patrick Patterson in part because of his close relationship with DeMarcus Cousins dating back to their time as teammates at the University of Kentucky.
• Wendell Maxey of RidiculousUpside.com chronicles Malcolm Thomas' journey from Israel to the D-League to the Warriors.

While the Los Angeles clubs stood pat and the Suns and Warriors only made small moves at the deadline, it was the Kings that were the Pacific Division's most active team, completing a six-player trade with the Rockets on Wednesday night. We have a couple links related to Sacramento's deal, as well as the rest of the latest items out of the Pacific:

• Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee questions why the Kings didn't wait until the offseason to consider dealing Thomas Robinson, since the trade with Houston ultimately won't save the team that much money.
• Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee spoke to Patrick Patterson about being traded from the Rockets to the Kings.
• The Suns have been looking for an opportunity to pair Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris since the 2011 draft, and nearly gave up a first-round pick to do it at the time, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes.
• Jerry Buss had plenty of time to consider the best course for the Lakers after his death, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who says that Buss' decision to pass on the team to his children suggests the former Lakers owner is still asking fans to trust his vision for the franchise.

A complete recap of trades that were completed before Thursday's trade deadline:

• The Houston Rockets traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns and Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas to the Sacramento Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt, and a future second-round pick.
• The Miami Heat traded Dexter Pittman and a future second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for the rights to Ricky Sanchez and cash considerations.
• The Washington Wizards traded Jordan Crawford to the Boston Celtics for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade exception and the rights to Georgios Printezis. The Blazers waived Ronnie Price to clear a roster spot for Maynor.
• The Thunder also acquired Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a future second-round pick.
• The Atlanta Hawks traded Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for Dahntay Jones.
• The Suns traded Sebastian Telfair to the Toronto Raptors for Hamed Haddadi and a future second-round pick.
• The Orlando Magic traded J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ishmael Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks for Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Doron Lamb.
• In a separate deal, the Magic traded Josh McRoberts to the Charlotte Bobcats for Hakim Warrick. 
• The Golden State Warriors traded Jeremy Tyler to the Hawks for a second-round pick. They also traded Charles Jenkins to the Philadelphia 76ers for an additional second-round pick.

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Sunday evening:

• Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman writes that Kevin Martin is performing up to expectations since being acquired by the Thunder in the James Harden trade.
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel thinks, in hindsight, that the Heat would have been wise to sign Andray Blatche this summer. Miami was held back by concerns about his effect on the locker room, as well as their belief in Josh Harrellson and Dexter Pittman, Winderman adds.
• Joe Freeman of the Oregonian admires the poise of Damian Lillard as the Trail Blazers rookie continues to impress.
• Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com likes what he's seen from Taj Gibson since signing a four-year extension with the Bulls.
• Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times adds to the praise of Gibson while also singling out Jimmy Butler for his defensive impact.
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun writes that Raptors bigs Amir Johnson and Ed Davis have not received due attention for their contributions.
• Rick Bonnell of the Oklahoman examines the Bobcats' defensive successes this season.
• Keith Langolis of Pistons.com says that rookie Kyle Singler has made a fan of head coach Lawrence Frank with his work ethic.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle praises Patrick Patterson's improvement.

12:27pm: Agent Tony Dutt tells Berman that the Rockets will also exercise the option for his client, Marcus Morris (Twitter link).

12:01pm: McCants has received word that the Rockets officially picked up Patterson's option, tweets Berman.

11:55am: Rockets GM Daryl Morey has informed Patrick Patterson's agent, Odell McCants, that Houston will be exercising its 2013/14 option on Patterson, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. The fourth-year option will pay Patterson about $3.11MM in '13/14.

In addition to Patterson's option, the Rockets still have decisions to make this week on two more players for 2013/14. Cole Aldrich has a team option worth about $3.25MM, while Marcus Morris has a third-year option worth about $1.99MM. Houston initially had five pending option decisions, but the team waived JaJuan Johnson and Lazar Hayward, choosing not only to turn down next year's options on both players, but removing from the roster immediately.

To keep tabs on all the offseason's 2013/14 option decisions, check out Hoops Rumors' tracker.

The Bobcats certainly aren't a model of NBA success, but according to team president Fred Whitfield, the franchise was in even worse shape when he took the job in 2006, as Ely Portillo of the Charlotte Observer writes. “A lot of my friends that were very connected in this community told me to turn this job down,” Whitfield said. “They said literally everything that could be wrong with a company is wrong with the Bobcats.” While the 'Cats prepare to erase the memories of last season's on-court debacle when training camp starts next week, here's the latest from the rest of the league:

• Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, looking at ways the Raptors can improve offensively this year, says Jose Calderon is likely to come off the bench behind offseason acquisition Kyle Lowry. Calderon's name has been frequently mentioned as a trade candidate for this season.
• The Rockets have a slew of young players and an eye on the future, but GM Daryl Morey promises coach Kevin McHale won't dole out minutes just for player development purposes, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes.
• In the same piece, Feigen says Patrick Patterson, whose team option for 2013/14 must be picked by October 31st for the Rockets to keep him from unrestricted free agency next summer, is likely to start at power forward.
• Lingering plantar fasciitis in Nene's left foot may cause him to miss the start of training camp, but the Wizards expect him to be ready for the regular season, Michael Lee of The Washington Post reports. 

11:35am: Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets that he doesn't believe last year's rookies (Morris, Parsons) and this year's three draftees (Lamb, White, Jones) are all a part of the Rockets' offer, but that many of them could be involved.

7:43am: In an effort to convince the Magic to deal Dwight Howard directly to Houston, the Rockets are in the process of reconstructing their trade proposal for the star center, according to an ESPN.com report by Marc Stein and Chad Ford. Stein and Ford write that the Rockets are looking to clear the necessary cap space to absorb at least three additional contracts in addition to Howard's, from a group that includes Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Duhon, Glen Davis, and Jason Richardson.

There are plenty of moving parts involved in Houston's planned proposal. The team will sign Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to offer sheets soon, and while Lin's will certainly be matched by the Knicks, it's less certain that the Bulls will match on Asik. If Chicago does bring Asik back, and Houston parts ways with Luis Scola, perhaps by amnestying him, the Rockets are confident they can fit many of Orlando's bad contracts under their cap.

The Rockets' offer to the Magic would involve some or all of the following assets heading to Orlando: Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, Terrence Jones, and future draft picks. The Rockets would also likely have to let go of a few players on non-guaranteed deals in order to absorb all the incoming salary.

Stein and Ford caution that the Magic are expecting a quiet weekend on the Howard front, which is probably fine for the Rockets, since the club needs to resolve the Lin and Asik situations before seriously resuming its pursuit of D12. When the Rockets are prepared to put their offer on the table, it might be the one that appeals most to the Magic. According to the ESPN report, GM Rob Hennigan is more interested in a package of young players and picks than he is in taking on a player like the Lakers' Andrew Bynum -- like Howard, Bynum is entering the final year of his contract, so with no assurances that he'll sign long-term, the Magic could find themselves in a situation similar to the one they're in with Howard, albeit without the history.

ESPN.com's Ric Bucher adds that the Hawks continue to pursue Howard, but hears from a source that Atlanta is "not the best option" for the Magic.

In his NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler reported that Dwight Howard is highly unlikely to change his mind again, but that the Magic seem to have a deal they'd do with the Nets if Howard waffles once more. You can follow all of today's Howard updates here, and check out the rest of Kyler's morning notes below:

• The Rockets are discussing more than half their roster in trades, having offered around Terrence Williams, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson, Luis Scola, Hasheem Thabeet and Courtney Lee. According to Kyler, Houston would trade any combination of those players to acquire Chris Kaman.
• The Bulls want Lee, but aren't likely to meet the Rockets' asking price, which would mean parting with Taj Gibson or Omer Asik. The Pacers and Timberwolves are also eyeing Lee.
• Houston has a standing offer out to the Lakers for Pau Gasol, but it doesn't include Kyle Lowry, so nothing is expected to happen there.
• If the Blazers' three-team deal with the Timberwolves and Lakers involving Jamal Crawford falls through, Portland may have a backup trade in place with the Pacers.
• The Magic won't be able to make a move for Josh Smith, which isn't a surprise. One league source tells Kyler the Hawks want an All-Star frontcourt player in exchange for Smith, so a deal is very unlikely.