CineSport—Deron Williams said he wants to play for either the Nets or the Mavericks. Will the Bulls trade Joakim Noah or Luol Deng? CineSport's Noah Coslov and Sheridanhoops.com's Chris Sheridan discuss.
A wise man once said “Brooklyn, we go hard.” That same man is the one going hard after Dwight Howard right now.
His name is Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z.
Both rapper and NBA owner, Jay-Z is working with majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King to set up Brooklyn’s new NBA team for greatness, but so far it isn’t looking good.
Star point guard Deron Williams has already planned to opt out of his contract, making himself a free agent. Despite opting out, Williams has said that he has narrowed his choices down to his hometown Dallas Mavericks or the Brooklyn Nets. Trading for Howard is exactly the type of move the Nets need to make to keep Williams.
With the team well under the salary cap heading into next season, the Nets have plenty of room to maneuver the roster to try and keep Williams and secure Dwight Howard for the long term.
What the Magic need most in return for Howard is young talent with potential, and fortunately for the Nets, they have the ability to give up a good deal of potential.
The Nets could give up center Brook Lopez, forward Gerald Wallace (sign-and-trade), shooting guard MarShon Brooks, a slew of draft picks and a trade exception.
In return, the Nets would receive Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu, whose burdensome contract Orlando is desperately trying to dump. If this happens, it should motivate Deron Williams to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Nets.
The Nets would then make their Brooklyn debut with a lineup of Deron Williams, Hedo Turkoglu, Anthony Morrow/Travis Outlaw, Kris Humphries and Dwight Howard.
Brooklyn’s bench would be slim and they likely won’t be able to contend for a title for a couple of years, but they could easily post a winning season and make the playoffs as a 5th, 6th or 7th seed.
The trade would cost a lot, but the Nets are out of options at this point. If King, Prokhorov and Jay-Z can’t pull this off, however, then they will be facing the possibility of Brook Lopez as their star moving forward. At this point in his career, that isn’t something that Lopez can handle or something the Nets want.
