Dwight Howard (Photo : Facebook/DwightHoward)
Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Brooklyn Nets is a team that is generally believed to have the bleakest future in the NBA.
This is primarily because of a trade they did with the Boston Celtics. They mortgaged their future draft picks as they wanted to win it all but they fell way short. Now, they are heavily disadvantaged to rebuild because they traded their draft picks to Danny Ainge.
The only way to gain some improvement is to sign free agents, something that has become more difficult because of the rising salary cap which brings more teams with cap space competing for the top players.
It's unlikely that the Nets could attract Kevin Durant, or point guard target Mike Conley for that matter. They may need to gamble on names that are not so coveted, but actually familiar for the franchise.
Dwight Howard was already on the Nets' radar, even before he joined the Lakers. There were rumors prior to the trade deadline, as per NJ.com.
Of course, the trade bait for Howard would be Brook Lopez because they can't spend half their salary cap on one position. Now that Howard is a free agent, the Nets recently reminisced on the possibilities if they actually acquired Howard and paired him with Deron Williams, back then, one of the top point guards of the league.
Dwight Howard is not a hot commodity anymore and the Nets could actually sign him even if they don't offer the max. The Houston Rockets are not so bullish in fighting to keep him and perhaps for some teams, Brook Lopez would be more valuable than D12.
One possibility is that the Nets gamble on Howard, thinking that he may still become a shadow of his former self, and trade Brook Lopez for assets, perhaps a point guard. Is this a direction that the Nets could take? At the very least, it would draw more attention (compared to not making a move at all) and while Howard is a polarizing presence, he is still a big name.
The Nets seem to have learned their lesson, and hiring GM Sean Marks, who hails from the best-managed franchise in American professional sports, the San Antonio Spurs. As a testament to their new found wisdom, NY Post writer Brian Lewis quoted Lopez himself confirming that his place on the team is safe.
"He (new GM Marks) has talked to me, and we both definitely want to be here and see things happen here and help the team grow going forward,'' Lopez stated.
Will this stance change if the Nets are in danger of striking out in free agency again and Howard is still unsigned? What if there was a very decent offer for Lopez? Change for the sake of change is not the Spurs' way, but there is a lot of pressure in Marks' position and Brooklyn fans would perceive inactivity in the negative.
