Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Dwight Howard has finally been traded from the Orlando Magic and it’s the Los Angeles Lakers that will be acquiring him as first reported by ESPN’s Marc Stein. Sources say that a trade call will be made to the league office Friday morning to complete the deal that will involve a total of four teams.

The Lakers would acquire Howard and the Magic would get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a first round pick from each team at least. The Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala and the Philadelphia 76ers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

Howard finally being traded is a long time coming and just about everyone is glad to see him finally leave Orlando. Howard has said he does not want to sign an extension and wants to test free agency next summer.

The Lakers will have until June 30 next year to get Howard to sign an extension. In the long-term, extending with the Lakers would benefit Howard the most financially so there’s still a good chance he will do so or simply re-sign with the Lakers next summer while he’s testing free agency.

It was reported yesterday afternoon that this 4-way deal might happen and it was including Pau Gasol in the deal then. Now it appears the Lakers will not have to give up Gasol and are basically just swapping Bynum for Howard.

The Magic were patient in their quest to part ways with Howard and wanted to wait for the best deal possible. Somehow that is coming in the form of what they are getting here.

Philadelphia and Denver both should be happy to be a part of this. Philadelphia has wanted for awhile now to find a way to become more than a perennial 6-8 seed in the East and getting Bynum for Iguodala might have the potential to make them a serious contender in the East.

Denver is kind of in the same boat and isn’t losing much in this deal while acquiring an All-Star in Iguodala who will certainly make them a better team.

Howard’s saga in Orlando seemed to last forever and there were times where it didn’t look like there was going to be an endpoint. It’s good that is finally over and of course it’s the Lakers once again swooping in and acquiring the best center in the NBA.

Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Trade talks have resumed again over Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. The Magic and Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to come up with a deal that would send Howard to L.A. for a few weeks now.

The latest development now involves a proposed blockbuster trade that would include the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers as part of a 4-team trade, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers would receive Howard and Al Harrington, Orlando would get Pau Gasol and Arron Afflalo, Andre Iguodala would go to the Nuggets and Andrew Bynum to the 76ers.

The biggest thing keeping Orlando from dealing Howard thus far is that they haven’t seen a deal out there worthy yet. Gasol and Afflalo are nice pieces and it is also believed though they would try and flip Gasol somewhere for young players and picks.

The Houston Rockets could possibly be interested in Gasol as they have stockpiled a roster full of young talent and draft picks. Houston was part of the 3-way trade that was vetoed last year that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Gasol to Houston.

More details will have to come out with this potential deal though because Orlando still definitely wants to give up more than just Howard. They want to start over in a sense, ridding themselves of all their bad contracts. Taking on Gasol and Afflalo doesn’t exactly accomplish that.

Kobe Bryant said earlier this summer that Pau was his guy and wasn’t going anywhere. The Lakers roster already looks very nice for next year with Steve Nash alongside Kobe, Gasol and Bynum. They’d be trading two for one to take on Howard in this deal which is a little bit of a risk.

The other interesting wrinkle in this deal is Iguodala and Bynum’s potential landing spots. You have to think Philadelphia would be all for swapping Iguodala for Bynum and trying to build their team around the young center.

Iguodala would probably seamlessly fit in with Denver and what they’re doing with the top scoring offense in the NBA, possibly making them a little bit more of a dangerous playoff team.

The deal isn’t close to being done though as the teams are just in early talks right now.