Report: Dwight Howard likely to be traded by tomorrow

Dwight Howard's public plea late Tuesday to remain in Orlando for the rest of the season has only served to anger the Magic and has instead pushed them closer than ever to trading their superstar center, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.

Convinced that Howard, on the advice of his agent, is trying to manipulate the situation, the Magic are telling teams they will trade Howard before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline if he does not commit to them beyond this season, league sources said.

"Dwight's dreaming if he thinks Orlando won't trade him without a commitment,'' a source said. "He needs to make some small commitment to them. They're saying it can't be one way.''

The Mavs don't have the assets to trade for Howard, so that leaves the Nets and the Lakers as teams on Howard's list still in play. The Nets package would center around Brook Lopez, picks, and probably Marshon Brooks. The Lakers package would start with Pau Gasol. Other dark horses are the Heat with Chris Bosh and the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler. The Warriors are out of the running now that they've traded for Bogut, while the Rockets don't really have the assets to entice Orlando. The Bulls have the assets, but don't seem to eager to make a trade.