The Dwightmare appears to be over.
After months of speculation surrounding the future home of Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard – most of it involving the Nets – the Magic appear to have dealt Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a source.
The source said it “looks like” the four-team trade will be completed, sending Howard to the Lakers and ending what has been an eight-month long saga surrounding Howard, the league’s dominant big man.
For much of those eight months, the focus of any Howard talks involved him coming to the Nets, who Howard made his most desired destination when requested a trade to the Nets once the NBA lockout was resolved last winter.
But Howard now appears to be headed to the Lakers in a complicated, four-team deal involving the Magic, Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports Thursday. ESPN.com first reported the deal was completed.
In the deal, the Lakers will receive Howard, the Nuggets will acquire 76ers All-Star Andre Iguodala and the 76ers will receive Lakers All-Star center Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson from the Magic. Orlando will receive guard Arron Afflalo and forward Al Harrington from the Nuggets, second-year center Nikola Vucevic and small forward and former St. John’s star Moe Harkless from the 76ers, along with a protected lottery pick from each team, according to ESPN.com.
If the deal is completed as constituted, it would push the Lakers past the Heat as the favorites to win the NBA title next season, with a foursome of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard that can match up with any team in the league.
Howard heading to the Lakers also would all but end any chances the Nets would have of acquiring Howard, who will be far over the salary cap when he becomes a free agent next summer. Because of the restrictions on teams over the luxury tax in the new collective bargaining agreement, the Nets will be unable to acquire Howard in a sign-and-trade after next season if he wants to leave the Lakers as a free agent. And it is extremely unlikely that the Lakers, who expect to be able to re-sign Howard, will trade him anywhere during the season.
The Nets have been at the center of the Howard saga ever since the superstar center requested a trade to the Nets last December after the NBA lockout ended. At various points, it seemed like the Nets would be able to acquire Howard, only to see trade talks fall apart.
Then, when it looked like the Nets would be able to sign Howard as a free agent this summer, he inexplicably opted-in to the final year of his contract the night before the March 15 trade deadline.
It again looked like the Nets might end up with Howard last month when free agency began, but after extended talks with the Magic talks broke down once again, and the Nets then re-signed restricted free agent center Brook Lopez to a four-year, maximum salary contract.
After re-signing Lopez, the Nets were unable to re-enter the Howard sweepstakes until January 15, when Lopez would be eligible to be traded against, but now it looks like they won’t get a chance to give it another shot.
tbontemps@nypost.com