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Dwight Howard signed a waiver Thursday that keeps him with the Orlando Magic through next season.

The waiver denies him the right to terminate his contract after this season. After going back and forth regarding his intentions, Howard said Wednesday that he would sign.

A source had told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that the New Jersey Nets had been told earlier Thursday that Howard would not be available in trade.

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Dwight Howard's public plea late Tuesday to remain in Orlando for the rest of the season has only served to anger the Magic and has instead pushed them closer than ever to trading their superstar center, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.

Convinced that Howard, on the advice of his agent, is trying to manipulate the situation, the Magic are telling teams they will trade Howard before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline if he does not commit to them beyond this season, league sources said.

"Dwight's dreaming if he thinks Orlando won't trade him without a commitment,'' a source said. "He needs to make some small commitment to them. They're saying it can't be one way.''

While the Magic hope Howard will sign a five-year contract extension, they would settle for a commitment from him not to opt out of the final year of his contract.

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The Orlando Magic's strategy for the moment on Dwight Howard, according to sources close to the process, calls for spending the next 48 hours or so making one last hard push to acquire the sort of difference-maker that would encourage Howard to commit his long-term future to the team that drafted him in 2004.

If no newcomer is acquired by Wednesday, sources said, Magic officials plan to spend the final 24 hours before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline evaluating all of their trade options and then deciding Thursday whether to stick to their long-standing desire to roll the dice and keep Howard beyond the deadline or make the best available trade.

As part of this process, one source said, Orlando will continue to seek a "definitive answer" from Howard about his future and hold out hope that he'd at least agree to exercise the option for next season on his current contract to give their marriage at least one more year. But Howard, according to associates, is determined to become a free agent in July in order to have complete control of his future and get to one of the top two destinations on his wish list: New Jersey or Dallas.

A source close to Howard, addressing reports that he's already made up his mind to join the future Brooklyn Nets, told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that's not a done deal.

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While we may not see many trades occur before the week of the March 15 deadline, discussions are taking place in front offices throughout the league.

Here's some of the scuttlebutt I've heard:

The Lakers' front office knows Kobe Bryant is looking for it to improve the roster, and GM Mitch Kupchak has been working the phones. He's spoken to Minnesota about Michael Beasley, and sources say the Lakers are intrigued by the Timberwolves' small forward. The Lakers were actually in discussions with Minnesota about a potential trade for Beasley before the season started. If they would have been able to pull off the deal for Chris Paul, there is a good chance that a trade for Beasley would have followed.

It's not clear what the Lakers would give Minnesota for Beasley (if indeed the talks get that far), but the Lakers could absorb Beasley into their $8.9 million trade exception while giving up a draft pick or cash. I'm told the teams have not spoken about Pau Gasol since the preseason. Minnesota is looking to move Beasley, who they feel has matured very little (if at all) since he's been there, according to sources. The Lakers believe they can handle a player like Beasley because of their winning culture and the leadership of Bryant.

Of course, the Lakers need a point guard even more than a small forward. While they worked out Gilbert Arenas last week, they have not come to a decision on him. They want to see if they can get another point guard, such as Cleveland's Ramon Sessions, before making a play for Arenas. There's a good chance they can get Sessions for a first-round draft pick before the deadline, sources say. If they don't get Sessions or someone else, they may bring Arenas aboard.

There are a few other PGs who could be available. While the Lakers would love to get Houston's Kyle Lowry, the Rockets plan to build around their vastly-improved point guard. But either of their two backups, Goran Dragic or Jonny Flynn, would be an improvement over what they currently have.

Lots of teams are calling Toronto about Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors aren't likely to part with Bargnani, and if they move Calderon, they'll need to get a point guard in return. That would seem to make a trade for Calderon unlikely.

Sources say Dallas is about ready to move on from the Roddy Beaubois experiment. The Mavericks have thought for years that the talented young Frenchman could be another Tony Parker, but he has not been able to master the move from shooting guard to point guard. Nor has he been able to fill the void left by J.J. Barea. If they don't move him before this year's deadline, he could be gone over the summer.

The feeling among some in Atlanta is that the Hawks' rotation was thrown out of whack by the return of Kirk Hinrich. The Hawks started the season 13-5 but have gone just 6-8 since Hinrich returned from shoulder surgery. Though he's struggled this season, one would think Hinrich could help a club if made available.

Frustration abounds in Atlanta right now, and sources say Marvin Williams wants out because he wants to play somewhere where he'll have an increased role offensively. Williams is averaging just 9.6 points per game, his lowest since his rookie season.

They're frustrated in Portland too, and Raymond Felton said as much in a report last week. But Felton, who's averaging a career-low 10 points on 36 percent shooting, knows he's at least partly to blame as well. He recently had talks with the Blazers' coaching staff and the idea of bringing him off the bench to stir things up was broached. Felton would be amenable to that, but only as a short-term solution.

J.R. Smith would like nothing more than to follow Kenyon Martin out of China and back to the United States. But a source close to the situation said we shouldn't expect other NBA players -- Smith, Wilson Chandler or Aaron Brooks -- to follow Martin's example and make an early exit from the Chinese Basketball Association.

All the NBA players who signed to play in China during the lockout, including Martin, did so with the understanding and contractual obligation to stay throughout the entire CBA season. Of course, anyone can leave a team, but the Chinese teams will not clear such players to play elsewhere (NBA, Europe, etc.) until his particular Chinese team finishes its season, whether before, during or after the CBA playoffs.

There has been talk that NBA players can buy out of their contracts for $500,000, but even that sum isn't going to move CBA officials to clear guys to play in the NBA.

"China will let these guys go home, but they’ll stop your money or even ask you for some of the money back, and you can’t play for another team around the world until your team in China’s season is over,'' the source said.

So even though Martin flew back to the United States on Wednesday, he will not be able to sign with an NBA team until his Chinese team, Xinjiang, finishes its season. The CBA's regular season ends on February 15. The playoffs could run as late as March 28.

So expect Smith, Chandler and Brooks to finish their seasons in the CBA. Smith, who tried to leave his Chinese club after suffering a controversial knee injury in his first game, recently sought a break with his club, Zhejiang, but according to a source, Smith was told that if he leaves, he would have to repay all the money he's already made plus the $500,000 buyout. And of course, he wouldn't be able to sign with an NBA team until Zhejiang ends its season.

So Smith is staying put.

Chandler and Brooks, both of whom are in favorable situations in China, are not looking to leave the CBA early, according to the source.

Martin, Smith, Chandler and Brooks have until late April to sign with NBA teams and still be eligible to play in the playoffs.

Josh Howard has agreed to terms with the Utah Jazz, according to a source close to the situation.

Terms of the deal are unknown at this time.

Howard also drew interest from Portland, New Jersey, San Antonio, Washington and Denver. Howard was a key player for Dallas from 2003-10 and helped the Mavs in their run to the NBA Finals in 2006. He averaged a career-high 19.9 points in 2007-08.

Howard was traded to Washington in February 2010 but tore his ACL the following month.


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Free agent Jamal Crawford has agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal to play for the Portland Trail Blazers, sources said. Crawford will have a player option for his second year.

Crawford chose Portland over Sacramento, which was offering a two-year deal worth $6.5 million per season, and New York, which offered $5 million over two years, sources said.

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By Marc Stein, ESPN.com and Chris Broussard, ESPN The Magazine

League officials representing the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers continued discussions into Tuesday night on a trade that would put Chris Paul on the same team with Blake Griffin, according to sources briefed on the talks.

But the sides have yet to find a framework that satisfies both, sources said, with the NBA not relenting on its desire to acquire the Clippers' top five available trade assets in return for Paul, who would invoke the 2012-13 option in his contract as part of any trade between the teams to ensure the Clippers would have him for at least two seasons.

"They're still asking for everyone," said one source with knowledge of the Clippers' thinking.

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Jamal Crawford has narrowed his choices to Portland, New York and Sacramento, according to a source close to the situation.

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While the Orlando Magic are keeping all of their options open, Dwight Howard is not.

There are only four teams that Howard would sign a long-term contract with, according to a source close to the situation -- the Magic, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers.

That severely limits the trade possibilities for Orlando, which has said it will not rule out trading Howard to any of the league's 29 other teams. Without a long-term commitment from Howard, no club is likely to put an enticing offer on the table.

Howard's stance essentially relegates the Magic, whose ideal scenario is to re-sign Howard, to trade talks only with the Nets, Mavericks and Lakers.

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The New Orleans Hornets' three-team trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets that would land Chris Paul in L.A. has been resubmitted to the league office for approval, according to sources close to the talks.

Initially, the Rockets' part of the deal was exactly the same, with Houston sending Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and a 2012 first-round draft pick to New Orleans, while receiving Pau Gasol from the Lakers, according to sources.

But sources close to the process told ESPN.com on Saturday afternoon that the Rockets have added unspecified players to the trade construction at the Hornets' request. The Rockets are prepared to make further tweaks, sources said, but have thus far been advised not to make any additional changes.

The rest of the specific changes to the original trade scenario were not immediately available, but sources told ESPN.com that a reconfigured trade has been presented by the league-owned Hornets to NBA commissioner David Stern in hopes that he'll approve this construction after vetoing Thursday's trade in principle.

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The New Jersey Nets met with Dwight Howard Thursday night in a move that would be a violation of the league's tampering rules, according to multiple sources.

Howard met with Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King in Miami, sources said. Howard was joined by a few business associates.

The meeting violates the NBA's tampering rules because Howard's current team, the Orlando Magic, did not know about the meeting or give the Nets permission to meet with him, according to the sources.

NBA.com reported that the Magic are considering filing tampering charges against two teams, one being the Nets. SI.com reported that the other team is the Houston Rockets.

The meeting was the first between Howard and the Nets, but the second between Howard's representatives and the Nets.

At the meeting, the group discussed a deal in which Howard would be traded to New Jersey. The plan was for Howard to ask Orlando to trade him Friday morning.

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Dwight Howard is preparing to ask the Orlando Magic to trade him to the New Jersey Nets, according to sources close to the situation.

Howard's representatives have told the Nets that they are his preferred destination.

Howard has yet to tell the Magic he will not re-sign with them after this season, but the sources said he will within the next few days, perhaps as early as Friday. There is also a chance that Howard will not attend the opening of training camp Friday, according to a source.


As ESPN.com reported last week, the Nets are ready to offer the Magic a package built around center Brook Lopez and two first-round draft picks, New Jersey's own and one the Nets acquired from Houston in a previous trade, according to sources.


New Jersey is also willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu and the three years, $34 million remaining on his deal.


The appeal of the Nets for Howard is the chance to play with All-Star point guard Deron Williams and the Nets' move into a new arena in Brooklyn for the start of the 2012-13 season.


Williams and Howard spoke several times about teaming up during the lockout.

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By Marc Stein, ESPN.com and Chris Broussard, ESPN The Magazine

The chances of a Chris Paul trade before NBA training camps finally open Friday appear to be dwindling after the pace of Paul trade talks slowed Wednesday, according to sources close the situation.


The Golden State Warriors have effectively withdrawn from the Paul Sweepstakes by stressing to the Hornets that they simply won't include star guard Stephen Curry in any deal with New Orleans. And sources told ESPN.com that none of the other teams known to be Paul's most ardent suitors sweetened their trade offers Wednesday, despite the fact that it's now an open secret around the league that the Hornets want to move Paul before the season starts Christmas Day, hoping to avoid a repeat of the long-running drama that suffocated the Denver Nuggets for much of last season before they traded Carmelo Anthony.


It has been evident since Monday that the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are New Orleans' preferred trade partners, but one source close to the process told ESPN.com that talks between Golden State and New Orleans have gone "dormant" because of the Warriors' refusal to make Curry part of the deal without an assurance from Paul that he will stay beyond this season as opposed to bolting as a free agent in July 12. Clippers guard Eric Gordon is the other player New Orleans covets in a Paul deal on par with Curry, but L.A. has likewise insisted all week that Gordon is a "deal breaker," as one source put it.

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Free-agent Caron Butler has narrowed his list of potential destinations to four teams: San Antonio, Chicago, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Butler visited San Antonio Wednesday morning and will sit down with the Nets Wednesday evening. San Antonio and Chicago are offering Butler the $5 million midlevel exception, while the Nets and the Clippers are in the $7 million-a-year range.