A short season and the magnitude of the Dwight Howard season will likely result in a quiet trade deadline. 

While Howard still wants to be traded, the Magic appear to prefer to keep him through the March 15th trade deadline.

“I’d be surprised if we see a lot of deals,” one Western Conference executive said. “In a short season, you can survive another 30 games and start talking trade to teams during the draft lottery.”

Said an East exec: “A playoff or playoff-hopeful team might do something to get them over the hump. But even if you have a problem guy, you don’t have to wait that long for the season to be over. It’s always hard to predict.”