The Orlando Magic have told Dwight Howard they have decided to suspend discussions focused on trading the All-Star center in order to spend more time on their head coaching search, according to a report from Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
This latest update should especially impact the Brooklyn Nets, who would have needed to acquire Howard soon because of Brook Lopez' uncertain status as a restricted free agent.
Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports that barring unforeseen circumstances, the Nets have already been ruled out of the Howard sweepstakes.
For their part, ESPN reports that the Nets say they have "moved on."
"We've moved on. It just got to a point where we couldn't keep going back and forth with Orlando. They had about 14 days to do something and didn't. We just had to move on, and we felt that way this morning," a Nets source told ESPNNewYork.com's Ian O'Connor.
If true, that should lead to the Nets giving up on their pursuit of Howard and deciding to sign Lopez to a long-term deal. The Nets have spent the last several months trying to build a package strong enough to convince the Magic to give them Howard, but the Magic have apparently decided to wait on other options.
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