Okay, I was thinking about copying and pasting the intro to the last article and changing the proper nouns but because I love you all, I haven't. Mr. Wojnarowski is also claiming to have inside information that Dwight Howard is once again seeking a trade.
Should you believe, Adrian Wojnarowski?
DOESN'T THAT DEPEND?
This one is actually even more of a fake rumor than the last one. If you click on the link at the bottom of the page, claiming this is "via" Adrian Wojnarowski, you'll see it's a link to the same article which says:
"Howard regrets forgoing his early termination option on his 2012-13 contract, sources said, and wants a trade before next season. Nevertheless, the Nets become far less appealing should Williams leave in July as a free agent, so Howard's camp is applying pressure on Orlando to expedite a deal once it hires a new general manager."
And
"Orlando ownership has softened on moving Howard and doesn't want to spend another season pleading with him to sign an extension."
So, once again:
Guys, all rumors before the start of the Free Agency are bunk. That being said, if some completely illegal shenanigans are going on in which it is implied to Dwight that if he does make an ass of himself such that it is understood that he'll continue to be too much trouble even for his talent, at the SAME TIME that it is implied to Deron that if he lets it be understood that no Howard means no Deron, well---you can fill in those blanks.
This again doesn't mean this is a real rumor. Does Dwight regret his decision? I'm certain. He did it because he was afraid of being shipped somewhere that wasn't NJ and of looking as bad as LeBron did though, of course, the second one was a massive fail. But now, instead of getting the chance to pair with a great PG who wants to pair with him, he'll get a chance to be an unrestricted FA along with Andrew Bynum (although also possibly Chris Paul) and there's no chance that looks as good as the other option.
But look. It is impossible--literally impossible--that the Magic have both fired Stan Van Gundy, let Otis Smith go, AND softened on trading Dwight. They even said, when they let Van Gundy go, that strategy wise they couldn't do better, but they wanted more of a player coach.
Was anyone else complaining about Van Gundy as coach? Just Dwight?
Okay.
Could somebody have told Dwight that if he and Deron appear to be arranging something AFTER the Nets get the #1 pick, it would be chargeable collusion rather than the LeBron James-Wade-Bosh no-smoking gun kind of collusion? Of course.
But I bet you that if the Nets don't get that draft pick, you stop hearing this part of the rumor immediately.