Howard Meets With Hennigan, Wants Trade To Nets

SUNDAY, 1:07am: The new management team in Orlando won't trade Howard until it has completed its due diligence, tweets TNT's David Aldridge. According to Aldridge, Hennigan and the front office won't let outside talk force them into making a decision before they're ready.

SATURDAY, 10:23pm: Howard has sought to nullify his decision to opt in to the final year of his contract, Broussard reports, but the players union will not pursue the complaint. There's no chance such a nullification will happen, league sources tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link). Howard told Hennigan he thought the Magic had blackmailed him into opting in, according to Broussard.

9:52pm: Dwight Howard met with new Magic GM Rob Hennigan on Friday in Los Angeles, and repeated his desire to be traded to the Nets, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports. Hennigan didn't tell Howard whether he intends to trade him or not (Twitter links).

"A lot of different teams" have inquired about Howard of late, Hennigan said, according to a report this week by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Howard has been in the Los Angeles area recovering from back surgery this spring. The Nets, a long-rumored trade destination for Howard, are reportedly in discussions with the Hawks about a trade for Joe Johnson.

As Zach Lowe of SI.com points out via Twitter, the Nets have no one under a guaranteed contract for 2013/14, so they'd have the flexibility to team Deron Williams, Johnson and Howard when D12 becomes a free agent next summer. Howard, however, seems to want to get to Brooklyn more quickly than that. 

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