Magic Close To Four-Team Howard Blockbuster

9:12pm: Stein says there are still unreported names in the deal, but the Magic are getting Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick from each of the other three teams in the deal. The Sixers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. The Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, and the Lakers will land Dwight Howard. Pau Gasol is not in the deal, Stein hears (All Twitter links). 

8:59pm: A conference call has been scheduled for Friday morning with the league office to process the deal, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

7:34pm: Berger says the most likely scenario involves the Magic getting neither Andrew Bynum nor Pau Gasol, adding credence to earlier reports that Gasol won't be a part of the deal (Twitter link).

7:29pm: Various Twitter reports indicate differing levels of confidence that the deal will get done. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com says the deal will happen "barring any last minute snag." ESPN.com colleague Ric Bucher believes the Magic and Lakers are pushing hard to complete the trade, but adds there are still many question marks. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says the talks are serious, but cautions there are a lot of moving parts. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports "guarded optimism" about the deal.

7:11pm: The deal has "huge legs," a source tells Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com, and the teams have made progress toward its completion today, Lynam tweets. 

6:55pm: A source close to Gasol says he's not in the trade, Ric Bucher of ESPN.com tweets. 

6:39pm: Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears the deal is "very close" and could take place as early as Friday morning. Broussard says that Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles also hears Gasol may not be a part of the trade. Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com tweets that there is greater confidence a Howard deal will get done than in the past. The Sixers are willing to take on Bynum even without assurances he'll re-sign next summer, according to the ESPN report.

6:23pm: Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld, in an updated version of an earlier story, says one of the variants of the deal doesn't include Gasol, and it's unclear whether it includes Al Harrington. Devin Ebanks, on a sign-and-trade, and Josh McRoberts may also be a part of the deal.

5:52pm: A source close to the talks tells HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy that reports so far have the teams right, but the deal would likely include different players if it gets done, as the Magic, Lakers, Nuggets and Sixers discuss multiple scenarios. No deal is imminent or near completion, the source says (Twitter links). 

5:41pm: Sixers center Nikola Vucevic would also go to the Magic as part of the deal, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. 

4:37pm: Sam Amick of SI.com confirms discussion of the trade and hears from a source with knowledge of the Rockets' latest Dwight Howard trade proposal who says it would give the Magic more assets than today's rumored four-team deal would. Andrew Bynum's agent, David Lee, says he hasn't had conversations with the Sixers or any other team about an extension for his client, Amick adds. Several other agents whose clients are said to be part of the four-teamer tell Amick they're unaware of the latest trade talks.

3:35pm: Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld hears that, while these four-team talks are ongoing, the Magic continue to discuss other Howard trade scenarios as well (Twitter link).

2:06pm: Jason Richardson is also involved in the tentative framework of the proposed trade, says Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Richardson could head to L.A. in the deal, which makes sense. He would fill the Lakers' need for a shooter, and his salary combined with Harrington's is still not close to what Gasol earns.

12:05pm: The framework of a possible deal includes Howard and Al Harrington going to the Lakers, Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets, Bynum to the Sixers, and Pau Gasol and Arron Affalo to the Magic, according to Wojnarowski. Presumably there would be a few more moving parts involved, with the Magic gaining also picks and/or cap relief. The Lakers and Nuggets, with their $13MM trade exception from this year's Nene deal, would each have room to take on an Orlando contract or two in that scenario.

Wojnarowski adds that the destinations of Bynum and Gasol in the proposed deal are still up in the air, but one would go to Orlando and one to Philadelphia. According to Wojnarowski, the Magic may feel better about flipping Gasol for another asset rather than acquiring Bynum and risking having him leave in free agency next summer.

11:45am: The Dwight Howard rumor mill has quieted down in recent weeks, but the Magic certainly don't appear to be done discussing a potential trade. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), Orlando is engaged in four-way talks about a possible Howard blockbuster with the Lakers, Nuggets, and 76ers. Wojnarowski adds that discussions have been ongoing for a few days, and they have substance, although nothing is imminent (Twitter link).

While Howard appears open to a trade to the Lakers, it seems a straight-up deal between L.A. and Orlando will be extremely difficult, since both teams would like to shed salary, and the Lakers already traded multiple future first-round picks in order to acquire Steve Nash.

The last series of Howard rumors involved the Lakers and Magic talking to the Cavs about a deal that would send D12 to Los Angeles and Andrew Bynum to Cleveland. In this case, perhaps Bynum would go to Philadelphia, with the Nuggets involved somehow to take on salary or provide picks in order to land assets in return. That's just my speculation though — we'll have to wait for more details on exactly what's being discussed here.

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