Rob Hennigan tries to convince Dwight Howard to stay but fails miserably – NBA News
In a new turn of events in the Dwight Howard trade saga, Orlando Magic General Manager Rob Hennigan, after trying to trade Howard for nearly a month, called him on Wednesday night and tried to convince him to stay in Orlando.
The call came after the Brooklyn Nets officially dropped out of trade talks with the Orlando Magic for Howard by signing their free agent centre Brook Lopez. The contract agreed with Lopez is for four years and worth $60 million
and has all but killed any chances Howard had of making it to New York.
The Nets had earlier offered Lopez, Kris Humphries, four future first round picks and $3 million in cash for Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark. The Magic refused the offer because they did not want Humphries
and also wanted the Nets to pick up Quentin Richardson.
The Nets were running out of time and patience with the Magic and with Lopez already having offers from at least two NBA teams including the Charlotte Bobcats, the Nets did not want to lose out on both Howard and Lopez and be left
without a centre for next season. Hence, they decided to offer Lopez a max deal and sign him back for the next four seasons.
Hennigan then made the call to Howard asking him to stay on the pretext that he was new in the franchise and not present when Howard had his issues with the Magic management. Team President Alex Martins was also on the phone and
according to a source, Howard replied:
"I already heard that from the other guy on the phone," referring to what Martins had said to him when he took over in Orlando back in the winter of 2011.
The Orlando Magic are finding it difficult to locate a trade for Howard, who has categorically stated that he does not want to return to Orlando next season. The Lakers, Hawks and Houston Rockets are still interested and that might
be the best option available to the Magic. For the moment though, the drama surrounding Howard’s trade continues, with no end in sight.
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