Dwight Howard to Stay With Magic for Now ORLANDO, Fla. - Dwight Howard declared his loyalty to Orlando on Thursday, but made it clear that it would only go so far. After agreeing with the Magic not to opt out of the final year of a contract that will pay him $19.2 million next season, Howard was asked why he did not negotiate a long-term extension if he loved the city so much. "I want to win a championship," he said. That's the only thing that matters. To that end, the agreement that was announced at a news conference at Amway Center by the Magic only hours after the team arrived home from San Antonio was a temporary compromise - not a long-term solution - to a fluid situation that apparently had become torturous to both sides. With their maneuverability to upgrade their roster compromised by an inflated payroll and by a lack of star power besides Howard, his willingness to rescind a trade demand made in December provides the Magic more time to make changes. It also removes the threat - for now - that Howard will leave as a free agent without the team getting anything in return, a nightmare the team experienced in 1996 with Shaquille O'Neal. "We were not going to let our fans suffer what they suffered in the mid-"90s," said Alex Martins, the Magic's chief executive. It was Martins, who was with the Magic in a public-relations capacity when O'Neal left for Los Angeles, who helped repair what was a deteriorating relationship between Howard and the front office. But he left no doubt that the team was not going to "roll the dice," as Howard had asked, to retain their star center had he not contractually committed to at least another season. For Howard, who was widely believed to want to join his friend Deron Williams with the Nets in Brooklyn next season, staying put allows him to avoid the probability of sitting out the playoffs in New Jersey. It is still quite possible that he could reinstate his trade demand as early as the summer if the Magic do not fare well in the playoffs and are unable to make significant moves by the N.B.A. draft. "When the time comes, I'll deal with it," Howard said. His decision was a painful blow to the Nets, who were counting on Howard to come, by trade or free agency. His arrival would have all but assured their re-signing of Williams, who also has one year remaining on his contract with a right to opt out. Williams could take the same approach as Howard by committing for another season, but that would create the possibility that he would miss three straight postseasons. "I talked to Deron earlier," a glum-sounding Nets General Manager Billy King said in a conference call to announce the acquisition of Gerald Wallace from Portland. There was no discussion of that. In dealing for Wallace, a 29-year-old scoring forward, the Nets gave up the injured center Mehmet Okur, forward Shawne Williams and a first-round draft pick in 2012 that is protected through the first three picks. Asked about Howard's waiving of his opt-out in Orlando, King said, "I'll pass." Until Howard made his decision late Wednesday night, the Nets believed they would get him sooner or later. Have you ever made a tough decision in your life? Howard said. Did it take one day? It takes a long time, but my life was being put out to the world. As the deadline drew closer, Howard said he wasn't sleeping well and was bothered by the negative comments. "I've never been a bad person," he said. I've never changed. Nobody wants to be hated. Martins said he always believed that Howard was struggling with the idea of leaving Orlando, but the first inkling that he was having second thoughts came late Tuesday night after a victory over the Miami Heat. Howard said he wanted to finish the season with the Magic, with the belief that the team - third in the Eastern Conference behind Chicago and Miami - could contend for the franchise's first N.B.A. title. "We have a chance to win, and neither side should give that chance up," Howard said. That's why we're going to give it a shot. Certainly the Magic have a better chance than the 15-29 Nets, who were flying to Orlando as the trade deadline passed to play the Magic on Friday night. While Howard suggested that his decision was not what his agent, Dan Fegan, was advising him, the waiving of his opt-out clause could be a no-lose proposition. He will be credited for demonstrating loyalty to the team that drafted him as an 18-year-old and to its 86-year-old owner, Richard DeVos. But he could still try to force a trade this summer, which puts Magic General Manager Otis Smith - whose much-criticized and expensive deals for players like Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson have reportedly created tension between him and Howard - on the clock. Asked about how he might improve the team to make Howard happy, Smith laughed and said, "I'm trying to get out of here as soon as I can." But the trade deadline passed without a move by the Magic.