Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as the frontrunner to trade for Dwight Howard this summer. But the Orlando Magic are in no rush to deal the All-Star center, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard.

The Magic have stood their ground on trading Howard. They aren’t going to give him up for nothing and now maybe won’t give him up at all.

Sources told Broussard that the Magic may be willing to wait until after the season starts and all the way until the trading deadline in February before trading Howard. They are waiting for the best possible deal and their recent trade talks with the Lakers may be to try and get other teams to jump in with a better offer.

The potential trade between Orlando and the Lakers would also include the Cleveland Cavaliers as the third wheel. Howard would go to L.A., Andrew Bynum would go to Cleveland and the Magic would receive a slew of picks and some young prospects.

The most recent news surrounding that potential trade was Howard saying he does not plan on signing an extension no matter where he is next season. He wants to test free agency at least somewhat next summer but whichever team he ends up on will be able to offer him the longest contract worth the most money.

On paper, this deal still seems not quite as good as the potential package the Houston Rockets would be willing to send Orlando. Houston GM Daryl Morey has been going “all-in” to try and acquire Howard by stockpiling picks and first round draft picks from this year’s draft to try and entice the Magic to pull the trigger on a deal.

Houston is confident too that they would be able to convince Howard to stay with the team beyond next season.

The Rockets have signed this offseason two restricted free agents in Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. They are paying each quite a bit of money but the signings of both shouldn’t impede their attempts to trade for Howard.

The fact of the matter is that the Magic still have plenty of time before deciding what they want to do with Howard and they intend to take that time. It’s a smart move as the landscape of the NBA and potential trade partners can change on a daily basis.

The Brooklyn Nets who first appeared to be the frontrunners for Howard this summer and were the team that Howard said he wanted to be traded to, would be back in the hunt if Howard is still on the Magic by Jan. 15, 2013.

When the Nets extended center Brook Lopez, who would have been an integral piece in a Howard trade, it meant they couldn’t trade Lopez until Jan. 15 of next season. Brooklyn had essentially moved on from trying to trade for Howard or maybe they knew Howard wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.

Orlando dragging out the Howard saga may seem like a bad idea and many people would like to see the Magic trade him and rid themselves of his drama but it may be smarter for them to hold out for the best possible deal, even if that means waiting until next February.

“We’ve moved on. It just got to a point where we couldn’t keep going back and forth with Orlando. They had about 14 days to do something and didn’t. We just had to move on, and we felt that way this morning,” a Nets source told ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian O’Connor.

The Nets have offered Brook Lopez a max 4-year, $58 million deal and are discussing the possibilities of adding a fifth year. The Nets did this to prevent Lopez from signing an offer sheet with another team (he had offer sheets ready to sign with Portland and Charlotte) and it has also made it so Orlando is no longer interested in trading Howard to Brooklyn.

Orlando Magic GM Rob Hennigan said that if Lopez signs a deal of that magnitude than any chances of trading Howard to Brooklyn are gone.

Hennigan informed Howard today that the Magic attempted to make a deal with the Nets but that they could not come to one and now Orlando will focus its energy on finding a new head coach.

With the Nets now out of the picture for Howard, the Los Angeles Lakers look to be by far the frontrunner for Howard although a potential deal between L.A. and Orlando is far from close to being done.

The Lakers would have to trade away Andrew Bynum to get Howard and have said they would be willing to accept Jason Richardson and his contract as part of a potential deal.

Bynum hasn’t said he would re-sign with the Magic past next season however which is part of why Orlando would be hesitant to make that deal. If the Magic were to get Bynum though, they could potentially offer him a 5-year, $100 million deal next summer which would be tough for anyone to turn down.

Orlando is most interested in getting as many draft picks as possible so a third team would likely be necessary to sweeten a potential deal with the Lakers.

The Lakers most recently traded for Steve Nash and a core involving Kobe Bryant, Nash and Howard would be a dream for the Lakers and immediately put them in the discussion for making it to the NBA Finals next season.

The Houston Rockets are the other team still in the mix for trading for Howard. Houston could offer the Magic the best package of draft picks and young players that Orlando wants but Howard has said he would not re-sign past next season if traded to the Rockets.

The Rockets seem unconcerned with that however and would be willing to take their chances with Howard for one season.

The Magic have said before that they are in no particular rush to trade Howard who may not even be ready to play by the start of next season due to his back injury. It is hard to imagine Howard playing another game in an Orlando Magic uniform though so a trade still seems more likely than that.

A 3-way trade has been proposed between the Magic, Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers that would involve 10 different players.

• Brooklyn would receive Howard, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.
• Orlando would receive Brook Lopez, Damion James, Sheldon Williams, three first round picks and Luke Walton from Cleveland.
• Cleveland would receive Quentin Richardson, Sundiata Gaines, Kris Humphries, a first round pick and $3 million cash from Brooklyn.

The Nets are also looking to add another first round pick in the trade to send to Orlando by trading MarShon Brooks.

This deal does not look any more appetizing for the Magic than some of the previous deals they reportedly were not interested in.

This proposed deal feels a little similar to when the New York Knicks were said to be the frontrunner for Steve Nash and then he suddenly ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Maybe the Lakers swoop in again out of nowhere to add another superstar?

The Lakers still want to trade Andrew Bynum to the Magic in a deal for Howard but the Magic are hesitant since Bynum has not said he would re-sign with Orlando following the 2012-13 season.

Orlando would be able to offer Bynum a 5-year, $100 million deal next summer which would be tough for him to turn down.

Source w/knowledge of situation says Nets & Magic have exchanged medical records for Dwight Howard & Brook Lopez (via @RicBucher)

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2012

The Cavaliers can help facilitate the trade by taking on Kris Humphries in a sign-and-trade as well as possibly MarShon Brooks. The Magic would receive Brook Lopez along with three first round draft picks.

The deal for Orlando does not seem much better than the ones rumored between them and the Nets earlier that the Magic were not interested in. However, it is rumored that this deal could be done by the end of the day today.

Brooklyn would suffer harsh luxury tax penalties over the next four seasons if they do get Howard. The penalties could amount to over $100 million in four years but they still seem determined to get Howard.

“You can talk about the new (luxury) tax all you want, but if the Lakers get Nash and the Nets get Howard, then what did the new CBA accomplish?” one GM told ESPN. “You have to realize part of long-term planning is making sure you don’t help create teams you can’t beat.”

The Nets are not limiting themselves to Cleveland as the third wheel in a Howard trade and are shopping Humphries around the rest of the league as well.

The Magic agreed to another trade yesterday sending last year’s Most Improved Player, Ryan Anderson, to New Orleans in a sign-and-trade for Gustavo Ayon. Anderson will receive a 4-year, $36 million deal.

Anderson benefited greatly from playing alongside Howard as a spot-up four getting a ton of open looks from three. We will see if he can still be effective in a different landscape without Howard.

The Hornets are happy to get a good rebounder and shooter to put alongside No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis for next season.

The Chicago Bulls also made moves yesterday bringing back Kirk Hinrich to a 2-year, $6 million deal. The Bulls now have to decide if they will match Houston’s 3-year, $25 million offer sheet for Omer Asik.

Derrick Rose may not be recovered from his torn ACL until well after next season has started for Chicago. The Bulls are likely parting ways with C.J. Watson so signing Hinrich here is a big move for them.

July 11 is the first day that free agents can officially sign. Teams will have three days to match offer sheets their restricted free agents signed elsewhere.

Jeremy Lin, Eric Gordon and Roy Hibbert are three of the biggest named restricted free agents that signed offer sheets with other teams. All three are expected to have those offers matched by their former teams.

Made a very tough decision today…. lockerz.com/s/222071318

— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) July 3, 2012

Williams reportedly narrowed down his decision to the Nets and Dallas Mavericks and was meeting with the two teams over the past 48 hours.

The Nets traded for All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson yesterday in a deal that was made to team up Johnson with Williams.

Williams would not have been able to make as much money playing in Dallas, who only could have offered him a deal around 4-years, $75 million.

Jason Kidd has been rumored to sign wherever Williams chose and played golf with him some the past few days.

The Nets re-signed Gerald Wallace to a 4-year, $40 million deal earlier this week. They are expected to try and re-sign Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries now as well.

For Kris Humphries to stay with Nets, he would have to accept the veteran’s minimum salary and that isn’t happening. So consider him gone.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 3, 2012

Brooklyn was the team Dwight Howard wanted to be traded to from Orlando but the Magic have not been interested enough in any type of deal with the Nets.

There were reports earlier today that Brooklyn was willing to offer Lopez, Humphries, MarShon Brooks and three future first round picks to Orlando in exchange for Howard but the Magic were not interested in pulling the trigger on that.

Brooklyn will have most of their money tied up in just a few players especially if they re-sign Lopez and Humphries. The Nets have certainly improved their roster from last season and making sure they kept Williams was huge for them.

The Nets may still be in play for Howard though. Orlando and Brooklyn are working on a deal for Howard that would send Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and three future first round picks to the Magic.

The Nets have even said they would take on the contract of Hedo Turkoglu as well to sweeten the deal for Orlando.

Howard made it clear yesterday that Brooklyn was the place he wanted to go. He said that Brooklyn is the only team he would re-sign with following next season if traded there. Howard went on to say that if he wasn’t traded to Brooklyn, he would just play out next season in Orlando then test free agency in the summer of 2013.

Deron Williams still has not officially decided where he will play next season. It is down to Brooklyn and the Dallas Mavericks for him as he is meeting with both teams this week.

Jason Kidd will supposedly also sign wherever Williams chooses and has been playing golf with Williams in Brooklyn some over the past few days.

If the Mavericks cannot sign Williams this season, they would surely like to go after Howard themselves. Dallas could offer Orlando Rodrigue Beaubois, Vince Carter, Dominique Jones, Brandan Wright and rookies Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder.

Despite Howard saying he would only re-sign in Brooklyn, the Mavericks and their owner Marc Cuban would surely be confident that they could convince Howard to re-sign in Dallas.

The Howard drama simply continues. Orlando would love nothing more than to get rid of him before the season but they won’t unless there is a deal out there good enough for him. The Magic can technically wait all the way up until the trading deadline during next season for the right deal so they may not be in the biggest rush.

The Lakers are still a team that could happen with a Howard trade. Andrew Bynum remains the best individual piece Orlando could land by trading their center.

Howard has wanted to be traded and pretending not all season long and somehow the Magic decided not to at the trading deadline.

A lot of trade rumors have surrounded Howard this season even one involving the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Back in March, Orlando approached Oklahoma City about a trade that would send Howard to the Thunder in exchange for James Harden and Serge Ibaka.

The Thunder said no.

The Thunder would have just been renting Howard if they went through with the trade because his contract would have been up after the season. But wouldn’t they have been guaranteeing themselves a championship by putting Howard next to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook?

It’s easy to see now why they would have basically no interest in the deal since they are competing for a title right now with the team they have.

It still would have been pretty cool to see Durant, Westbrook and Howard on the court together wearing Thunder uniforms.

The Magic would have loved the trade getting Harden and Ibaka. It would have been the best possible outcome for them and part of why they haven’t parted ways with Howard yet is that teams don’t have a lot to offer for him right now.

There were always rumors surrounding the New Jersey Nets trading for Howard, potentially sending Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks and some pieces to pair Howard with Deron Williams but that never happened.

The Magic want more for Howard and they should want more, but they shouldn’t expect it.

When your star player wants to be traded, you trade him. It never works out if you don’t. The Magic will inevitably do so whether it be in the offseason this year or during next season.

After the Los Angeles Lakers lost in the second round for the second straight season, there are now rumors of them blowing up their roster and they might have enough pieces to send Orlando’s way to land Howard.

Andrew Bynum had a breakout season and Pau Gasol’s days in L.A. seem numbered so sending both for Howard seems like a decent idea for both teams.

One thing is for sure though, the more this is drawn out, the more that no team wants anything to do with Dwight Howard.