Report: Dwight Howard to request a trade this summer

Ready for a not at all shocking rumor? Of course you are.

According to ESPN, Dwight Howard will request a trade as soon as the Magic are eliminated from the postseason. Here's what Stephen A. Smith said on SportsCenter:

"The minute this season is over, according to what I am hearing from his camp, you can expect Dwight Howard to tell Orlando. 'Get me out of here. I don't want to be here any longer.' You've got Stan Van Gundy annoyed with the organization. You've got Dwight Howard disgusted with the organization. The way he's been treated, along with the way his teammates have been AWOL on him as far as he's concerned. You've got a problem.

Not to mention the fact, there's one other little Cliff Note that you might find interesting. When he had his back surgery, they were talking about giving him a flight on AirTran or something like that. This is the kind of stuff that I've been told in the last 24 hours in terms of how they've treated him. He feels as a superstar, he's been treated as a scrub."

Catch that last part? Howard was going to be flown to Los Angeles for his back surgery on a budget airliner. But keep in mind, this admittedly came from "Howard's camp," a camp that hasn't been shy about pushing to move him out of Orlando. It's always appeared to be Howard resisting that, but his so-called camp has advocated he move to a bigger city.

Howard publicly requested to be traded early in the season, listing teams he'd approve of. He then waffled at the deadline, eventually waiving his early termination option locking himself into another year in Orlando. The only way he could leave Orlando before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2013 is via trade.

The Magic have tried to do whatever it takes to keep Howard happy so it's hard to picture them trading him this summer even if he goes public again. It seems that they've made their bed with Howard and they're just going to sleep in it until he finally up and leaves.

Via I Am A GM