The New Jersey Nets have been told by Dwight Howard's representatives that they are his preferred destination and that the Orlando Magic superstar is preparing to ask the Magic to trade him to the Nets, according to sources close to the situation.

Howard
Howard has yet to tell the Magic that he will not re-sign with them after this season, but the sources said he will within the next few days, perhaps as early as Friday. There is also a chance that Howard will not attend the opening of training camp Friday, according to one of the sources.

As ESPN.com reported last week, the Nets are ready to offer the Magic a package built around center Brook Lopez and two first-round draft picks, New Jersey's own and one the Nets acquired from Houston in a previous trade, according to sources.

If necessary, New Jersey is also willing to take back Hedo Turkoglu and the three years, $34 million remaining on his deal.

The appeal of the Nets for Howard is the chance to play with all-star point guard Deron Williams and excitement over the Nets' move into a brand new arena in Brooklyn for the start of the 2012-13 season.

Williams and Howard spoke several times about teaming up during the lockout.

If Howard is indeed committed to joining the Nets, he can all but force the Magic to make the trade by declaring his intentions not to sign a long-term contract with any other team, thereby assuring that those clubs make low-ball offers to Orlando.

Howard's decision to go to the Nets would put a monkey wrench in the Los Angeles Lakers' plan to team Howard with Kobe Bryant by trading Andrew Bynum for the Magic center.

The Nets are continuing to pursue free agent center Nene just in case their plan to acquire Howard falls through. That would seem to indicate that they expect a deal for Howard to begin coming together fairly soon.

BigDaddyG wrote:Can the Nets amnesty Hedo if the trade goes through?

unclear if you can amnesty a player you trade for right now.

islesfan wrote:Knicks should be offering Amare in a package for Howard.

Agree.

I hope the Nets and Orlando were doing it right by not dragging media and fans thru the mud.

Deron and Dwight as cornerstones for Brooklyn is a good thing for New York Basketball!

Nothing is gained if nothing is at risk. Blowing the Nets out every time might be good for the standings but good games with purpose will enhance the teams and the league.

The Russian knows how to change the weather in Brooklyn.

Dwight Howard will ask Magic to trade him to Nets today, sources say. Trade could happen as soon as today.

Dwight Howard met with NJ owner Mikhail Prokhorov & GM Billy King Thurs night in Miami, sources say. Orlando was unaware if meeting. Meeting was violation of NBA tampering rules.

The Knicks are working to bring forward Shawne Williams back on a deal, but Nets and others still trying to wrest him away, sources say.

Even as the NBA launched into damage-control mode Friday over commissioner David Stern's rejection of a trade sending Chris Paul to the Lakers, another firestorm started. The Orlando Magic were considering tampering charges against the New Jersey Nets, front office sources confirmed to CBSSports.com.

The charges would stem from an alleged meeting between Dwight Howard and Nets representatives in Miami in recent days as New Jersey prepared a blockbuster trade offer to land the All-Star center. ESPN.com reported that the meeting was attended by Howard, some of his business associates, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Nets general manager Billy King.

Howard told ESPN.com, "There was no meeting." Prokhorov's spokeswoman, Ellen Pinchuk, did not respond to a request for comment, but King issued a statement Friday echoing Howard's denial.

"Contrary to published reports," King said, "the New Jersey Nets did not meet with Dwight Howard."

Howard's agent, Dan Fegan, told Yahoo Sports and SI.com Friday night that the Magic gave Howard and his representatives permission to speak with three teams, and the Nets were one of them. But Fegan also vehemently denied that there was a meeting involving Howard and Nets officials and said the tampering allegations were "undeniably false."

But Alex Martins, the Magic's new CEO, denied to SI.com Fegan's claim that Orlando had given the franchise star or his reps permission to speak with anybody.

It was a second straight day of buffoonery for the NBA as it tried, and failed miserably, to shake off the effects of a five-month lockout and launch abbreviated training camps and free agency Friday. The season starts in 16 days, and two of the league's biggest stars evidently are frozen in their cities while other teams struggled to field enough bodies to hold training-camp practices.