ORLANDO, Fla.,None — A source very close to Dwight Howard confirmed to WFTV’s Joe Kepner on Friday that Howard will ask the Orlando Magic for a trade to the New Jersey Nets.
The Orlando Magic headed back to work Friday at the Amway Center when training camp began, and now there's a chance Howard might not show up.
He is in the final year of his contract with the Magic and could walk away at the end of the season.
According to an ESPN.com report, Howard wants to head north and the Nets are willing to offer Orlando a deal that could also include Hedo Turkoglu, and the three years and $34 million remaining on his contract.
"Howard's representatives have told the Nets that they are his preferred destination," according to ESPN.com.
An Orlando Magic player told WFTV's Christian Bruey that he expects Howard to leave, but doesn't know if it will happen before the season begins.
In the '90s, the Magic lost Shaquille O'Neal when his contract expired and Orlando got nothing when he left.
Now Shaq is weighing in on the Howard situation.
"Hopefully he stays and hopefully he makes the right decision, but to get up on the podium and say I'm doing the job and he needs to make the right decision. I don't think that's the right thing to do. You have to, as a manager, say 'We want you to win, and this is what we're willing to do.' I don't think they're making the right moves or saying the right things," he said.
Howard could tell the Magic he has no plans to re-sign with the team, so their best option might be to trade him now.
Howard attended training camp, which began at 4 p.m. Friday.
The Magic are set to play the Nets on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Amway Center.
Earlier in the week, Magic General Manger Otis Smith said they were going to do everything in their power to keep Howard in Orlando.
"Our objective is to keep him in our uniform. However, if that doesn't happen, we will move in another direction," said Smith.
Howard, who will make close to $18 million this year, will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Howard seemed frustrated in a response he made to a pleading fan on Twitter, writing, "Would y'all leave me alone about that. Dang, am I on another team? No. And if u hate me becuz another jersey, u never loved me."
"At the end of the day, I have to do what's in the best interest of the Orlando Magic," Smith said.
If Howard leaves, what would be the impact on Orlando?
The City Beautiful loves Howard so much that taxpayers footed the bill for the new half-billion-dollar state-of-the-art facility for him to play basketball.
But it doesn't seem like that will be enough to keep him here.
"It's like putting it in the blender and throwing it down the drain," said Church Street business owner Andria Brown.
Howard is considered an icon by fans who have nicknamed the new Amway Center, "Dwight House."
Fans said if he leaves, there's virtually no chance of winning a championship.
Brown said she had been waiting for the lockout to end, and now the player who attracted the crowds at Amway, may leave.
"It's going to have an impact because when there are games and you come through here, everybody has on a Dwight shirt," Brown said.