[tricky_ab]

Eric Pincus
The Rockets want Howard but they also NEED a positive end to their asset collection. If they can get Bynum, given Dwight saying long-term he won't say in Houston - then maybe that's a compromise everyone willing to accept. With the Brooklyn non-deal as a model, clearly these things don't come easy, at all Read more › - Houston would love to just deal straight up with Orlando. The Magic like the idea of less $ locked in and a ton of prospects. We shall see.

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine
In short: Lakes need 3rd team to do Dwight deal. Nets do NOT but direct ORL deal TRICKY. Rockets can do it direct or facilitate & get Bynum

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/81...es-source-says

The Houston Rockets have joined the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets as the most serious potential trade partners with the Orlando Magic on a Dwight Howard deal, according to sources close to the process.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Rockets are discussing a multitude of trade scenarios with the Magic, offering to serve both as the team that would acquire Howard in a direct trade between the clubs and also as a third team that would participate in a trade that lands Howard with the Lakers and brings All-Star center Andrew Bynum to Houston.

The Rockets, in the latter scenario, would push to acquire Bynum from the Lakers while furnishing the Magic with a package of future draft picks and cap-friendly contracts to set Orlando up for a full-fledged roster reload. Sources confirmed a HoopsWorld.com report that the three-team trade construction that sends Bynum to the Rockets instead of the Magic -- with Orlando said to be concerned about its ability to re-sign Bynum for the long term -- gained traction Tuesday