As if yesterday's bad news wasn't enough, we've got even more bad news for Dwight Howard fans.
Despite the fact that he cited "loyalty" as his reason for agreeing to stay with the Magic at the NBA trade deadline (peep Dwyane Wade's reaction to that here), a new report indicates that that wasn't actually the reason at all. In fact, the report says that the Magic had a deal in place with the Nets on March 14 that would have sent Howard to New Jersey in exchange for Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Mehmet Okur, and two first-round draft picks. However, Orlando saw a great opportunity to keep Howard by also negotiating a deal with the Lakers that would have sent him to L.A.—where he did not want to play—in exchange for Andrew Bynum, Steve Blake, and Devin Ebanks. And then, they reportedly leveraged that against Howard, threatened to send him to La La Land instead of NJ, and—wouldn't you know?—he opted to stay in Orlando rather than heading out West because, at the very least, it gives him the chance to sign with the Brooklyn Nets next season if that's what he really wants to do.
We're sure we'll never know if this is how things really went down. But, wow. Is it safe to say that Dwight Howard played his cards completely wrong this season or what? Damn, homie. Fails on fails on fails.
[via Eye On Basketball]
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