Dwight Howard deal dead; Nets offer Brook Lopez deal: Report

The Dwight Howard saga appears to be over, at least as far as Nets fans are concerned.

Multiple outlets reported that the Nets and Magic have stopped negotiating potential trades involving the star center, whose preferred destination was Brooklyn.

Worried that another team would sign restricted free agent Brook Lopez to an offer sheet, the Nets instituted a 6 p.m. deadline Wednesday to resolve the deal, according to ESPN and offered Lopez a max contract of four years, $58 million with a potential fifth year, according to the Daily News. Sending Lopez to Orlando in a sign-and-trade was a key to any deal involving Howard, and after the Magic declined the team's offer of Lopez, Kris Humphries and four first-round draft picks, the deal was effectively dead, ESPN reported.

Coming on the heels of Deron Williams' new deal, the Nets were hoping to bring in Howard to be serious contender in the team's first season in Brooklyn.

Now, the Nets look to be content forging forward with Lopez in the middle, and the unsettled Howard remains in Orlando - for now.