Dwight Howard isn’t talking trade, but everyone else is

Three times on Friday and Saturday I heard a reporter try to broach the topic of trade demands and where he might play in the future with Dwight Howard, and every time he has responded that he is not talking about anything past All-Star Weekend.

“The situation we are in right now is All-Star Weekend. That’s the only thing that matters right now,” Howard said Friday. “This is for the fans and we’re going to enjoy ourselves. All that stuff can go on after the All-Star break.”

But everyone else is talking about Howard and with that Deron Williams.

Will those two play together? If so, does it happen in Brooklyn? If the Nets don’t move Williams that means they think they can get Howard, either in a trade or via free agency this summer.

Then there is Dallas. Interesting note here by Mitch Lawrence in the New York Daily News.

Williams privately told members of the Mavs last June during their Finals celebration that he would love to go back home and be a part of team with Dirk Nowitzki. But he said Friday he wants to continue to be a Net. So until further notice, the Nets think they still have a good shot to move into Brooklyn with Williams and Howard.

If the Mavericks can find a taker for Shawn Williams contract, they can amnesty Brendan Haywood and they would have the money next summer to pair Williams and Howard with Dirk Nowitzki. The rest of the roster would look like last year’s Miami Heat — which is to say, poor after the big three — but they could do it.

Really, it all comes back to Orlando. Will they move Howard? They don’t want to, but if they realize he is gone after this season and they cannot resign him — right now they still think they can keep him — and the offers that come in near the deadline improve, well, we could have another blockbuster on our hands.

On Monday, that speculation will start to pick up a lot of steam heading to the March 15 trade deadline.