NBA Trade Rumor Roundup: Dwight Howard Seems To Control The Trade Deadline

The NBA trade rumors are heating up, which is no surprise considering the March 15 trade deadline is now just one week away. The weird part is that it seems Dwight Howard is controlling everything, making most teams play the 'will he or won't he' game while waiting on a decision from the Orlando Magic's All-Star center.

There's obviously an end in sight due to the trade deadline next Thursday, but CBS Sports' Ken Berger did excellent work while trying to shed some light on exactly what's going on regarding any sort of Howard transaction. While Berger's column is certainly worth reading, SB Nation's NetsDaily summed it up quite well in a paragraph.

Ken Berger takes a long look Thursday at one of the factors that makes Brooklyn so attractive to Dwight Howard: the potential for global exposure and the money that goes with playing in a big market with another star. Berger doesn't quantify the financial advantage Howard would get in moving from Central Florida to New York City, but he does discuss how much Deron Williams and Chris Paul have made moving from small markets to New York and L.A.

While making money is obviously a huge factor in any decision, despite what anyone's heart supposedly says, NBA.com's crew of writers indicate that there's no easy way for Howard to approach the current dealings. Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports takes it one step further, intimating that Howard might be leading NBA fans toward the worst NBA trade deadline ever.

There are, of course, (a few) things happening that don't revolve around Howard, however, since our last look at the NBA trade rumors.

To ease into things, the Memphis Grizzlies are apparently looking to ship Sam Young as they try to open up some cap space. SB Nation's own Straight Outta Vancouver sums it up petty well with the following: "Booooring!"
The Boston Celtics seem intent on being in this column every day, but they aren't really doing anything. Celtics Blog's Jeff Clark summed everything up on Thursday morning and, at this point, it doesn't seem like anyone is going to be shipped up to (or out of) Boston.
The Chicago Bulls aren't expected to make a move, either, despite injuries hampering Rip Hamilton's contributions to the team. Our friends at Blog a Bull aren't exactly keen on waiting on Rip, but they realize that is what's liekly going to happen.
The Philadelphia 76ers picked up a big win over the Celtics on Wednesday night, but prior to that victory, there were plenty of people suggesting Evan Turner gets traded. He likely calmed that talk with a big game, but Liberty Ballers' Michael Levin took a look at the rumors regardless.
The Washington Wizards might have trouble dealing Rashard Lewis. Not necessarily because he's a bit banged up or not producing, however, but because his buyout is nearly $4 million more than expected. Mike Prada has more over at Bullets Forever.
The Minnesota Timberwolves played the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night and, in a fun bit of heckling, the fans let Jamal Crawford know about the trade rumors.
Ending the bullets with a bullet point -- but not a trade rumor -- the great guys over at Detroit Bad Boys looked at the rumors of their former player Rasheed Wallace reportedly contemplating a comeback.