In the latest update to his story that the Magic had ended trade talks regarding Dwight Howard, Adrian Wojnarowski quotes a source saying that Howard told friends on Tuesday that he thought the trade sending him to New Jersey was a "done deal."

But 24 hours later, it was a dead deal, and Howard's impression was that "ownership killed it." Stefan Bondy tweets that Howard's theory "is in line with what I heard about Otis Smith's suppressed role."

According to Wojnarowski, Howard reiterated his trade demand on Tuesday, but "there's still a belief among Magic officials that a successful season could help them keep Howard for the long-term." Moreover, reports Ken Berger, the Magic owners don't want to see Howard in another team's uniform when they host the All-Star Game February 26.

Dave D'Alessandro blames the "AAU mentality," and believes Billy King should just build a winning team "systematically," which wouldn't be too hard given the Nets assets.

• Magic end trade talks for Dwight Howard - Adrian Wojnarowski - Yahoo! Sports
• Dwight Howard trade saga has Nets caught in the middle of a circus - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
• Sources: Magic take D-12 off trade market - Chris Ford & Marc Stein - ESPN
• Does Lakers-Paul bode well for Nets-Howard? - Ken Berger - CBS Sports
• Pingalore's sources: Howard's agent 'strong-arming' Magic - David Pingalore - WKMG Sports
• Magic in no rush to trade Dwight Howard to the Nets - Fred Kerber - New York Post
• Nets keep searching for ways to fill their roster - Andy Vasquez - The Record
• Iannazzone: Money driving NBA's holiday madness - Al Iannazzone - The Record
• Getting Inside - New Jersey Nets - Sports Xchange