Howard stays put; centers on move

Associated Press

Dwight Howard agreed to stay in Orlando on a day plenty of other big men were on the move.

Nene, JaVale McGee and Marcus Camby were among the centers who found new homes Thursday before the NBA’s trade deadline.

Denver dealt Nene to Washington, just three months after re-signing him to a five-year, $67 million contract. The Wizards sent JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to Denver and Nick Young to the Los Angeles Clippers, trading away two of their talented young but sometimes immature players.

Washington also picked up forward Brian Cook in the deal, a person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been approved by the NBA.

The Lakers got younger at point guard, acquiring Ramon Sessions from Cleveland and sending veteran Derek Fisher to Houston. Swingmen Stephen Jackson and Richard Jefferson were swapped in a Spurs-Warriors deal, and the New Jersey Nets picked up Gerald Wallace from Portland.

The Nets had bigger hopes, though.

They had long been a favorite to land Howard, who had told the Magic before the season he wanted to be traded and listed the Nets as one of his choices. He was eligible for free agency this summer, and Orlando risked losing him for nothing.

Instead, he agreed to waive the early termination option in his contract .

It was a relatively quiet trade deadline, with teams wary of taking on long-term contracts with the more punishing luxury tax rules in the new collective bargaining agreement. And with the lockout pushing the deadline back from its usual February spot to mid-March, teams had a little more time to decide whether they were really contenders and a move was worth it.

Big names such as the Lakers’ Pau Gasol and the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo — along with the rest of Boston’s top players — stayed put after all been linked to rumors.

The surging Lakers, up to third in the Western Conference, needed an upgrade at the point before potentially facing All-Stars Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker or Chris Paul in the postseason.

Sessions had been backing up No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, but the Lakers had their eye on him for months. They got him and forward Christian Eyenga for reserves Luke Walton and Jason Kapono.