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Dwight Howard Wants To Have His Cake And Eat It Too

The circus around Dwight Howard kicked into high gear Wednesday, the day before the NBA trade deadline.

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Multiple national reporters had sources indicating that Howard told his teammates he would opt-in to his contract and stay in Orlando until at least the summer of 2013.

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However, it took Howard less than a few hours to walk back his statement, telling the Magic's front office in a conference call that he would not waive his right to be a free agent this summer:

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Howard seems to be trapped in a situation where he doesn't want to stay in Orlando but doesn't want leave burned bridges the way LeBron did in Cleveland. But, at a certain point, he's going to have to choose.

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This latest PR disaster has to have the Magic's front office worried, which isn't a good sign for the Mavericks, who need Howard to stay in Orlando and enter free agency this summer for Dallas' gamble to pay off.

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Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.