Magic Talking To Rockets, But Nets Not Feeling Desperate

As the NBA moratorium period ended on Tuesday night, the latest on Dwight Howard was that the Rockets "strongly engaged" with the Magic on talks regarding a two-team trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. A three-team deal involving the Lakers is not a priority.

The Rocket offer is reportedly centered on Luis Scola, the 32-year-old power forward with three years and $30 million left on his contract; Kevin Martin, oft-injured 29-year-old shooting guard with a $12 million expiring contract and draft picks, one of which is a virtual lock to be a lottery pick. It may just be that "Orlando 'simply wants to do a deal elsewhere',” Woj reported. Howard continues to insist he will not re-sign with Houston, according to David Aldridge.

The Nets aren't out of the picture and they still want Howard. But Fred Kerber writes that they'll be OK if he goes elsewhere. They're not desperate after re-signing Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace, trading for Joe Johnson and signing Mirza Teletovic.

"The deal isn't on the coroner's slab yet and still could be done with creativity and ingenuity as a straight two-team trade," Kerber writes. "But the Nets no longer are rushing around, begging other teams to participate." Aldridge similarly said the situation with the Nets is "quiet."

• Nets’ Howard trade snags, scaled back to just Magic - Fred Kerber - New York Post
• In N.B.A., Music Starts and Howard Is Still in Orlando - Howard Beck - New York Times
• Brooklyn Nets Dwight Howard trade talks remain idle, but team faces deadline - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• People of metropolis wait for Superman - Steve Serby - New York Post
• Dwight Howard's hopes of going to Brooklyn hit a snag - Josh Robbins - Orlando Sentinel
• Are Magic really going to settle for Nets deal? - Mike Bianchi - Orlando Sentinel
• Rockets push ahead on potential deals to acquire Howard, Bynum - Jonathan Feigen - Houston Chronicle
• Lakers sweep back into Dwight Howard talks - Mike Bresnahan - L.A. Times