Dwight Howard’s departure from the Orlando Magic was anything but amicable. In fact the whole thing turned into a media circus with Howard as the ringleader.
Initially Howard asked to be traded in the 2012 season but then signed a waiver of his early termination option which meant he would stay with the Magic for another year. Then he changed his mind yet again and asked to be traded. Had he not signed the waiver he could’ve just left and went to whichever team he wanted to but instead the circus continued.
Howard was eventually traded to the Los Angeles Lakers (we saw how that turned out) but what he really wanted was to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
via Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders:
In the summer of 2012, reports emerged that Howard requested a trade from the Magic. Unlike midseason when he didn’t know what would happen, Howard believed his next move was clear.
“I thought the Brooklyn thing was going to come through at the end of the season,” Howard said of a potential trade to the Nets. “It was something that was promised, but it didn’t happen. Once it didn’t happen I figured everything happens for a reason. I just let it go. I was upset for a while, but I just let it go.”
Unfortunately that trade didn’t happen although the Nets did try. The Nets offered four future first round picks and Brook Lopez for Dwight Howard but the Orlando Magic decided they were focused on rebuilding and didn’t want to be tied to Lopez’s contract. Well eventually things did work out for Howard although he spent an unhappy year in LA he was able to go to the team of his choosing and went with the Houston Rockets.
