Dwight Howard has decided to end the talk around his potential trade, announcing he’ll stay with the Orlando Magic till the end of the season. What started out looking like an obvious case of a superstar wanting out of a overachieving small-market franchise changed into Howard saying he’ll finish the season with the Magic, potentially opting out of his contract in the summer, becoming a free agent.

Maybe Howard doesn’t see any immediate pay off in leaving via trade to another team (Lakers? Nets?) knowing that he’ll cost any team that wants him valuable pieces in a theoretical effort to win the title. Howard might be losing future money, a lot of it, if he leaves the Orlando Magic, but I guess he might be seeing something he likes. A win over the Miami Heat might have been another example of why he should stay.

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But Howard isn’t the only big fish, albeit the biggest, in the trade rumor pond. Monta Ellis ended the rumors surrounding the Golden State Warriors, that had more to do with Stephen Curry. The Warriors finally get an actual center – Andrew Bogut from the Milwaukee Bucks. Stephen Jackson also arrived in the Bay Area, where he has already played for more than 3 seasons. The Warriors sent Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown in the deal.

According to rumors in the Bay area, the Warriors are already looking to trade Jackson, who has one more season on his contract. They’re also looking to ship Dorell Wright and Andris Biedrins.

Ellis is averaging 21.9 points per game, but if Bogut comes back from his injury like his old self again, I think the Warriors got the better side of the deal. Ellis will now team up with Brandon Jennings, hopefully now less concerned about scoring and more about running the team and finding open players.

And on to the rumors – Pau Gasol played for the Lakers in their win over the Memphis Grizzlies, which is kind of symbolic, seeing he got traded from Memphis to LA on the deadline four years ago. The Chicago Bulls were hot for Gasol yesterday, but it’s seems like a difficult deal to make. Carlos Boozer might hold interest for the Lakers, but they would probably like to see an actual star or a good point guard in such a deal.

The Bulls will have problems finding a third team to use in order to complete the trade. They have been hinting at Dwight Howard for a while, but Howard has, over and over again, declared he does not want to play in Chicago.

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A good friend of Dwight Howard, Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, wants out. Only problem? He won’t be getting traded anywhere – not him and not Marvin Williams who is also looking for a new home. Smith isn’t rumored to be a guy willing to cause problems and flip tables in order to get the trade done, something he has requested over a year ago. Still, the Hawks don’t plan on moving their best (??) player right now, or anyone else. There is just not good enough value to deal Smith anywhere.

Chris Kaman (averaging 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Horents) doesn’t think he’s on the trade block or anything, but there are quite a few teams interested in German international, but only if the Hornets buy out his contract by March 23. The Hornets, as of now, have no plans of buying out.

The New York Knicks situation is intriguing, and despite all the talk about trading Carmelo Anthony or even Amar’e Stoudemire, suddenly D’Antoni seems like the one with the fingers pointed at him. He’s lost the team, or half of it, or a part of the locker room. Something is just wrong in New York, which seems blossoming during the time Anthony was out and Lin was found.