Larry King says Dwight Howard had agreed to a Nets trade

Remember that whole Dwight Howard situation last week? First he was staying in Orlando, then he was going, then he was sticking around again, then he had agreed to a deal to form an Ed Hardy traveling team, and then he finally waived his right to opt out of his contract this summer, ensuring that we can go through this whole kerfuffle again next year. I can't wait!

There's been fallout from that back and forth, though, and we're only now beginning to figure out exactly just went down. One report suggests that Howard had already accepted a trade to the Nets and was on the brink of making it official. Except, it didn't come from Yahoo!'s own Adrian Wojnarowksi, RealGM's Jarrod Rudolph, or any of the other reporters who were on top of the Howard saga. Instead, it came from American broadcasting institution Larry King. Larry's Twitter account, you're on the air (via Nets Are Scorching):

You read it here. Dwight Howard had agreed to be traded to the Nets, but had a last minute change of heart and stayed with the Magic.

My source is reliable. If Dwight wants to comment, I can't tell Dwight what to say.

Damn, that's a real challenge coming from a man who once called jockeys the best athletes in the world. The good news is that there's an easy resolution to this media dust-up: both King and Howard are huge fans of Ed Hardy apparel.

It's fun to poke fun at King for his fashion sense and bizarre commentary, but he's an insanely well-connected media member who's built up a sterling reputation over the course of many decades. He likely has a very good source inside the Nets and/or Magic organizations, so it's fine to take him at his word. Plus, this news jibes with the minute-by-minute reports we received before the trade deadline. Everything here makes sense.

However, we can only wonder who that source is. My money is on Jay-Z. My spies tell me they saw a performance of "Cavalia" together a few weeks ago.