Dallas and Orlando had exploratory talks last week regarding Dwight Howard and "will probably talk again,'' Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson confirmed.

Terms of a potential deal have not moved beyond the preliminary stage.

"There's just not much there,'' Nelson said.

One source indicated the Mavericks are holding out hope that Howard stays in Orlando through next season, or goes to Houston as a one-year rental.

Dallas could have enough cap space next summer to sign Howard to a max-level deal.

The Magic have hired Jacque Vaughn to become their next head coach.

A press conference will be held on Monday.

Vaughn spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Spurs and will repace Stan Van Gundy.

Vaughn had the same duties as the team’s top three assistant coaches: Mike Budenholzer, Don Newman and Brett Brown, but he sat behind the bench as NBA rules allow only three assistants on the bench during games.

General manager Rob Hennigan and Vaughn are familiar with each other from their time with the Spurs.

David Stern accused Dwight Howard's agent of a leaking details of a recent meeting between Howard and Magic executives.

"It's very unique, especially if it's driven by a quote source that happens to be Dwight's agent," Stern said when asked what he thought of the Howard situation. " 'A source in the meeting. Oh, OK, who might that be?"

Asked if he thought the source could be new Magic general manager Rob Hennigan, Stern replied:  "No, I don't, and I don't think it's (Magic CEO) Alex Martins either.”

Orlando Magic General Manager Rob Hennigan met with the franchise’s disenchanted superstar Dwight Howard on Wednesday in Los Angeles, sources have confirmed to RealGM.

Hennigan traveled to Los Angeles to have a face-to-face discussion with Howard with the hopes of persuading him to back off his trade request and allow the organization more time to build a championship contender. Hennigan, however, was unsuccessful in his pitch as Howard reiterated his desire to leave Orlando as soon as possible, according to sources.

Hennigan’s pitch to Howard had a heavy focus on the two men developing a relationship that would be valuable to the Magic moving forward. He expressed a sincere interest in getting to know the six-time All-Star and working with him to improve the team. Howard, however, was expecting an outline of how the team planned to improve and get back to a championship-contending level, something he didn’t receive during the hour-long meeting, according to sources.

Howard was staunch in his stance and again made it clear to Hennigan that he has no desire to return to Orlando. He told the 30-year-old general manager that he would “never sign another contract with the Magic,” according to sources that spoke with RealGM.

During the meeting, Howard informed Hennigan that he would be willing to re-sign with the Lakers at the end of the 12-13 season if the two teams were able to complete a trade.

The scenarios Howard was open to during the meeting were: An immediate trade to the Lakers, a January trade to the Brooklyn Nets or a clean break at the end of the 2012-13 season. But he was clear that he would not return to the Magic, choosing to leave as a free agent after the season, sources told RealGM.

Hennigan informed Howard that he didn’t have any deals in the works and wasn’t quite sure how to respond to what he was told, according to sources. Hennigan was noncommittal on any of the discussed scenarios as the meeting ended.

Hennigan’s noncommittal approach has only frustrated Howard more as it’s believed that several acceptable offers have been presented to the Magic only to be turned down due to a lack of a true intent to trade him, sources said.

There is now a belief that Hennigan and the Magic have half-heartedly entered into trade talks, resulting in frustration among the many teams rumored to have been included in the ongoing negotiations.

Trading Howard, however, is a process the Magic won’t rush as they understand his value on and off the court and aren’t willing, at this point, to lose him without acceptable compensation.

The following 36 NBA players are currently under contract for the 12-13 season and are on their respective country's Olympic rosters:

Atlanta Hawks - no players

Boston Celtics - no players

Brooklyn Nets - Deron Williams (USA)

Charlotte Bobcats - no players

Chicago Bulls - Luol Deng (Great Britain)

Cleveland Cavaliers - Anderson Varejao (Brazil)

Dallas Mavericks - no players

Denver Nuggets - Timofey Mozgov (Russia)

Detroit Pistons - no players

Golden State Warriors - no players

Houston Rockets - no players

Indiana Pacers - no players

Los Angeles Clippers - Chris Paul (USA)

Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe Bryant (USA), Pau Gasol (Spain)

Memphis Grizzlies - Marc Gasol (Spain) 

Miami Heat - LeBron James (USA)

Milwaukee Bucks - no players

Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Love (USA), Alexey Shved (Russia)

New Orleans Hornets - Anthony Davis (USA), Al-Farouq Aminu (Nigeria)

New York Knicks - Carmelo Anthony (USA), Tyson Chandler (USA), Pablo Prigioni (Argentina)

Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant (USA), Russell Westbrook (USA), James Harden (USA), Serge Ibaka (Spain)

Orlando Magic - no players

Philadelphia 76ers - Andre Iguodala (USA)

Phoenix Suns - Luis Scola (Argentina)

Portland Trail Blazers - Nicolas Batum (France), Victor Claver (Spain), Joel Freeland (Great Britain)

Sacramento Kings - no players

San Antonio Spurs - Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Boris Diaw (France), Tiago Splitter (Brazil), Patty Mills (Australia), Nando De Colo (France)

Toronto Raptors - Jose Calderon (Spain), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Linas Klezia (Lithuania)

Utah Jazz - no players

Washington Wizards - Nene (Brazil), Kevin Seraphin (France)

• Click here to view the full Olympic rosters.

The Magic have told executives with other teams that they may not trade Dwight Howard, according to sources.

Orlando has told other executives that they will only trade Howard in a deal that is great for the franchise.

Another executive who has been in touch with the Magic front office believes they may wait until the February trade deadline to complete a trade of Howard.

Both the Lakers and Rockets are interested in trading for Howard, but both teams don't believe the Magic are prepared to trade him at this point.

The Nets could reemerge as a trade possibility if the Magic wait until January 15th to execute a trade for Howard. Brook Lopez becomes eligible to be traded on that date.

Neither the Nets or Lakers, the two destinations Howard has told confidantes he would sign with long-term with, have sufficient cap space to sign him outright next offseason.

Dwight Howard's agent responded to a report from RealGM's Jarrod Rudolph that his client would commit long-term to the Lakers if traded to the franchise.

"Dwight's position has remained unchanged since the end of this past season," said Dan Fegan of LaGardere Unlimited. "He fully intends to explore free agency at the end of next season, regardless of what team trades for him, including Brooklyn."

Howard had previously only wanted to be traded to the Nets, but sources told RealGM that he was ready to commit to the Lakers. Howard wouldn't sign an extension, but wait until the summer of 2013 to sign a new deal worth as much as $108 million over five seasons.

The Cavaliers are eager to acquire Andrew Bynum in a three-way trade with the Lakers and Magic involving Dwight Howard, but they are not prepared to move forward without an assurance from Bynum.

"Cleveland will only do the deal if Bynum extends," a league official directly involved in the talks told Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers want the framework of a trade to be agreed upon before the Cavaliers begin engaging Bynum on an extension.

Dwight Howard has long coveted the Brooklyn Nets as his next landing spot, but after a summer filled with daily rumors of four-team trade proposals, the six-time All-Star has moved on from his Big Apple infatuation and is locked in on joining the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell RealGM.

The Lakers, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly discussing a three-team trade that would send Howard to the Lakers, Andrew Bynum to the Cavaliers, while the Magic would receive Anderson Varejao and multiple draft picks.

Howard has always been impressed with the Lakers’ winning tradition and intrigued with the off-court opportunities that come with playing in Los Angeles.

Questions about Howard's role with the team, however, became an early concern for the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Howard has since moved on from those concerns and is confident he will be an integral part of a team that will have a chance to compete immediately for a championship, according to sources that spoke with RealGM.

The Lakers are reportedly ready to make the trade, but first need assurance from Howard that he will commit to the team long-term. Sources say Howard is “excited” about the opportunity to play for the Lakers and will re-sign with the team when his contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season.

- Jarrod can be reached at Jarrod.Rudolph@RealGM.com or on Twitter @JRudolphSports

The Cavaliers have emerged as a facilitator in a trade that would send Dwight Howard from the Magic to the Lakers.

Cleveland would acquire Andrew Bynum for a package of draft picks and Anderson Varejao.

Los Angeles would receive Howard, while Orlando would acquire Varejao and a collection of picks.

The Rockets have also been engaged in three-way trade talks.