The Orlando Magic have made it clear to the NBA's other teams they are not entertaining trade offers for Dwight Howard and will start the season with their superstar center, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Magic decided Wednesday to end trade discussions involving Howard after the latest offer from the New Jersey Nets, with whom they'd discussed a Howard trade in depth, failed to impress them.
In a new, three-team trade the Nets proposed, Orlando would send Howard and Hedo Turkoglu to New Jersey for 23-year-old center Brook Lopez. The Magic would also receive forward Gerald Wallace, a one-time All-Star, from the Portland Trail Blazers, as New Jersey would send draft picks the Blazers' way.
New Jersey is one of the three teams to which Howard, who can become a free agent in 2012, would accept a trade. In addition to staying with Orlando, Howard is also considering continuing his career with the Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Orlando could be pulling Howard off the market in order to increase his trade value, but it would not make this move if it did not believe it stood a chance of convincing Howard to re-sign long term.
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