Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Going To Brooklyn Nets After All?

Dwight Howard trade rumors have been flying for months now, but sources say the superstar Orlando Magic center may head to the Brooklyn Nets after all.

The news is surprising to anyone who has been following the ridiculous saga of Dwight Howard's plans for the 2012-13 season, given that a trade to the Nets seemed dead in the water just yesterday.

The Nets are considering trading Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries and MarShon Brooks, as well as Brooklyn's 2013, 2015 and 2017 first-round draft picks all to Orlando for Dwight Howard alone, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

But no trade is imminent, and the Nets are looking for a third team to help facilitate a potential trade for Howard, according to the ESPN report. The Magic continue to consider possibly trading Howard to the the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks or Houston Rockets, ESPN said.

The Nets, which will be playing their first year in Brooklyn after being perpetual losers for the past many years in New Jersey, are hoping that they can add Dwight Howard as the perfect big man to fill out what is turning out to be a pretty formidable Nets team.

Howard himself would likely be happy to go to the Nets, as he asked Orlando management to trade him to Brooklyn back in December, and he has since repeated the request, doing so once again on Friday.

Deron Williams looks increasingly willing to stay in Brooklyn, and will almost definitely choose to do so if Howard is picked up by the Nets, and the team just made a massive deal to acquire Joe Johnson from the Hawks on Monday.

And sources have told ESPN that Gerald Wallace has agreed to a four-year $40 million deal to stay with the team, meaning that the Nets will have four big players as they seek to become one of the best teams in the East after what seems like an eternity of losing.

Yahoo! Sports reported Monday that Howard said he would only sign a long-term contract with the Nets, but that once Joe Johnson was signed many NBA observers thought the deal for Howard to go to the Nets was no longer a possibility.

The twisted tale of what Dwight Howard's future will begin remains unresolved, but it will be interesting to watch how it all plays out in the end.