"Christmas could come early for the Nets.

League sources confirmed to The Post last night that Dwight Howard has requested a trade to the Nets, bringing the franchise one step closer to their dream partnership of Howard and star point guard Deron Williams.

"You only get one time around," Howard told reporters last night in Orlando. "You get one chance at this. You can't press the reset button.

"Once this is done — once I'm done playing — I can't turn back the hands of time and play again.""