On Wednesday, GM Rob Hennigan flew to Los Angeles to meet with Howard to talk about the possibility of the perennial All-Star staying with the Magic. This was a desperation move by the new GM hesitant to pull the trigger on a blockbuster deal and it ended with similar results as Howard remained adamant about wanting to be traded.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports via Twitter, Howard wondered why the Magic’s front office didn’t make a deal with the Lakers or Nets before they acquired Steve Nash and Joe Johnson:
Howard wondered to Hennigan why offers on table w/ Nets and Lakers prior to Joe Johnson and Steve Nash deals were rejected,source says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 26, 2012
It’s hard to argue with Howard’s point here as the Magic were given plenty of opportunities to make a deal to send the superstar elsewhere and get value in return. Obviously, equal value for Howard is extremely difficult to acquire with the three-time Defensive Player of the Year being considered the best player at his position, but there has been no lack of intriguing options.
With All-Star center Andrew Bynum up for grabs in the trade offer from the Lakers, it still makes many wonder, including Howard, why a deal wasn’t done with the Lakers. Not only were the Lakers willing to trade the second-best center in the league to Orlando, but they also pursued other teams like the Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers in order to make the deal work for the Magic.
Needless to say, Howard was unmoved by anything that Hennigan had to say on Wednesday and still wants a trade to happen with no desire of returning to Orlando.
This is yet another twist in the Howard saga with the Lakers potentially having some light at the end of the tunnel. Even though Howard has been the fall guy for all trade rumors surfacing and supposedly waffling back and forth, the Magic are quickly turning into the problem in these trade talks with an unwillingness to get a deal done before next season.
It remains to be seen how this will all come to fruition and where Howard will ultimately land, but this meeting with Hennigan may have kicked started things once again with the young GM in Los Angeles and stone throw away from the Staples Center. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak will almost certainly be making a phone call to Hennigan in order to see if trade talks can reignite.