Dwight Howard didn't say much about the Nets — certainly nothing that would explain why he reportedly has asked the Orlando Magic to trade him, with the Nets being his No. 1 preferred destination.

"We’re not talking about the Nets right now," Howard said. "We’re talking about the Magic. That’s the team I play for. There’s no need to talk about any other team – who’s interested in them or not. I’m not going to get into a discussion about it."

Howard was told how Nets point guard Deron Williams has said the two talk often, and how Williams said he'd like to play with Howard.

"Well, me and Deron have talked for a couple of years," Howard said. "We did play with each other in the Olympics. I talk to a lot of guys – not just Deron, but Jameer (Nelson); Gilbert (Arenas); I talk to Big Baby (Davis) – I talk to a lot of guys. And everyone wants to get together and play basketball. But as of right now, the only thing that matters is this next game, coming out and playing and getting the job done."

According to sources close to the situation, the Magic will not hold out for youth and draft picks in a potential deal for Dwight Howard.

The Magic would instead prefer to acquire several established players who can keep the team competitive.

Owner Rick De Vos, 85, is believed to have little interest in rebuilding in the wake of Howard's departure.

Dan Fegan, Howard's agent, has formal permission to discuss trade possibilities with the Nets, Lakers, and Mavericks.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy hinted that changes to his rotation could be in the offing if veterans don't improve their energy on the offensive end of the court.

"Right now, I'm just not happy with our energy level," Van Gundy said before the Magic played their home opener Monday night against the Houston Rockets.

"I'm not happy with our ball movement. Now, I know it's early, so I don't plan any major changes going into tonight. But at some point, either the guys that are playing have to pick up things and pick up the energy level themselves or you need an infusion of energy from some other people."

Courtney Lee points to Orlando's decision to break up the team that went to the 2009 NBA Finals as the starting point in Dwight Howard's discontent that has led to a trade request.

Lee returned to Orlando as a member of the Rockets on Monday. After the Finals, Lee was traded to the Nets in a deal for Vince Carter.

“I’m not surprised (Dwight requested a trade),” said Lee. ”When they broke up the team in 2009, you could just see the frustration in Dwight’s face. We talked about it a couple of times and you could tell he was upset about it.

”Most franchise players are involved in the decision-making,” Lee added, “and Dwight’s  feeling like he’s not involved.  If you’re going to build around a player, you should communicate with that player and see who he’d like around him.”

The Lakers defeated the Magic in five games, but Lee missed a layup in Game 2 that would evened the series at one.

“It’s not like we got slaughtered in the Finals,” Lee said. “You’d have thought a team that went to the Finals would have stayed together. We got that far in 2009 and the next season we would have had another year’s worth of experience and playing together.”

David Stern was in Oklahoma City on Sunday before the Thunder hosted the Magic on NBA Opening Day.

Stern was asked how he wants to see Dwight Howard's situation with Orlando play out.

"That's the beauty of the soap opera of basketball," Stern said on Sunday in Oklahoma City. "As in life, it'll play out the way it plays out, and we'll all be observers of it. I just don't know.

"But, to me, I am of the view that when somebody has put in his years so to speak and he has earned his free agency he's free to decide where he'll sign, and he's not under a compunction under our system to re-sign with a team if he doesn't want to. But how it plays out? We'll all wait and see."

Shaquille O'Neal says the Magic should not pull the trigger on trading Dwight Howard.

"I’m keeping my eye on the Orlando situation," O’Neal said. “I’m anxious to see if they make the same mistake twice. They just built an arena, $550 million. It’s talks of trading him or keeping him, but I think they should keep him."

O'Neal said the Magic should have sought more input from Howard before making personnel moves.

“One, they should show (Howard) a little bit more respect. And two, they should really get another dominant player in there," O'Neal said.

“If you look at the history of the league, most [successful] teams have had a definite 1-2 punch. Right now in Orlando you only have a 1 punch, so . . ."

The ripple effects of Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard both being part of the Adidas endorsement family is that the shoe company wouldn't want the two players on the same team.

As one high-ranking sneaker executive says, “Adidas simply cannot have its two signature players on the same team in the same market. … Derrick is the face of that market, owns that market, and Adidas can’t possibly have maximum bang for its buck with Dwight there.

“It serves Adidas no purpose. They need them as rivals in competing markets.”

Howard has an Adidas renewal on deck in the next year, and Los Angeles and Brooklyn guarantee him maximum money.

The Knicks have the highest average ticket price of the five Christmas Day games.

Here are the averages, according to information provided by TiqIQ.com:

Celtics @ Knicks: $516.09
Bulls @ Lakers: $466.02
Heat @ Mavs: $395.97
Magic @ Thunder: $295.71
Clippers @ Warriors: $104.95

Jim Buss, who holds the title of Lakers VP of Player Personnel, addressed a report suggesting the Magic were willing to trade Dwight Howard for Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

"Where does this stuff come from?" Buss said. "You'd have to be kind of silly to give up two All-Stars like that for Howard. Zero truth to it. We have never been asked for Andrew and Pau and we've never offered them. I think they know we'd either say no or they would sound crazy for asking."

Buss denied being unwilling to part with Bynum.

"Let's just say this," he says. "You have to give up something to get something. And I'm willing to give up something to get something.

"We've done everything within the rules that we could to explore this situation until we were just spinning our wheels," he says. "The player is still in control of his own destiny; he can block a trade just by saying I'm not going to sign a new deal and stay where he is.

"I personally believe now that we have the team that we will be playing with all season long."

Dwight Howard and co-captain Jameer Nelson want more freedom to police teammates during games, and Howard also wants Van Gundy to be less negative.

"Our job is to lead the guys on the court," Howard said Thursday, referring to himself and Nelson.

"We both have our ways that we lead the team, and they follow. The main thing is that people have to see that me and Stan are on the same page and we're not bumping heads. Then everything else will fall in line."

Van Gundy said he and his superstar agree more often than not.

"I think we both want to win badly, and I think that's the most important thing," Van Gundy said.