The threat may have done the job.
The idea of Dwight Howard demanding the Orlando Magic trade him to New Jersey died when the Magic started talking about potential tampering charges on Friday.
By the end of the day everyone has denied everything. But the rumors of Howard to the Nets had died out by then as well.
The Magic said they are not going to file tampering charges, not yet anyway.Magic chief executive officer Alex Martins says that Orlando has not filed tampering charges against any other team for any illegal contact with star Dwight Howard.
Martins says that the rules against tampering are clear and that if they had been violated in any way the team would pursue the abusers to the fullest extent of NBA rules. But as of Friday nothing has been filed with the league office.
Both Howard and the Nets front office denied any meeting.
“Contrary to published reports, the New Jersey Nets did not meet with Dwight Howard,” Nets general manager Billy King said in a released statement.
Until Howard directly tells the Magic he is not going to sign an extension and to trade him, nothing is going to get done. Eventually the Magic are going to trade Howard (I am not convinced the Magic can rework the roster into a contender fast enough) but expect a trade closer to the deadline, not soon.
