MINNEAPOLIS — Dwight Howard may be looking for a way out of Los Angeles, but Deron Williams and the Nets aren’t looking for a new center.
After the franchise spent the better part of a year held hostage by a never-ending stream of trade rumors involving Howard, Williams had no interest discussing the latest rumors about Howard’s future and whether he could be put on the market by the Lakers before next month’s trade deadline.
Instead, Williams gave a ringing endorsement to Brook Lopez, who scored 22 points in Wednesday night’s 91-83 victory against the Timberwolves last night and should earn the first All-Star selection of his career when the reserves for both conferences are announced today.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Williams said of the latest round of Howard rumors prior to last night’s game. “We’re happy with Brook. … Brook is our center. He’s having an All-Star year, so I don’t see Brook going anywhere.”
Williams said he sought out Lopez Wednesday to make sure his center wasn’t bothered by the new speculation that surfaced in the wake of a report the Nets had planned to reach out to, ironically, the Timberwolves about putting together a potential three-team trade that would see Lopez routed to Minnesota, Kevin Love to Los Angeles and Howard to Brooklyn.
“I told him, ‘You can’t catch a break, huh?’ ” Williams said with a laugh. “No matter what you do.”
Things have changed pretty dramatically for Lopez, Howard and the Nets over the past several months. Lopez spent nearly all of last season sidelined by a pair of foot injuries, while also being forced to hear non-stop speculation about his future since he was the centerpiece of every trade proposal the Nets put together to try to acquire Howard from the Magic.
This season, however, Howard hasn’t looked like the same player after offseason back surgery, and the dysfunctional Lakers have turned into a drama worthy of any of the best production companies Hollywood has to offer. Howard left last night’s Lakers loss to the Grizzlies in the second quarter after re-injuring his right shoulder.
At the same time, Lopez has been terrific, entering last night’s game as the only player in the league to average over 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks per game.
“He’s played, to this point, as well as any center in the league,” Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We’re halfway through, and for 41 games he’s been as good as any center in the league.”
“I don’t think that’s me trying to sell him, or anything like that. The numbers back it up, and people who’ve seen him can see that.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Lopez — unlike Howard — is a weapon the Nets can utilize at the end of games because he’s not only an excellent scorer, but a very good free-throw shooter. In fact, the play that eventually ended with Joe Johnson hitting the game-winning jumper against the Knicks Monday afternoon began with Lopez being double-teamed in the post on the opposite side of the court.
“It makes a huge difference, because it means you can go inside to somebody late in the game and he can still command a double team and people can’t feel good about fouling him,” Carlesimo said. “It’s a very important dynamic.
“Some of the best big men in this league are notorious for not being able to throw them the ball at the end of the game, [because] you’re just going to foul him. So the fact that he’s a good, and I still think can be an even better, free-throw shooter is a big plus.”
Lopez, for his part, seemed to take the latest round of speculation surrounding him in stride.
“I mean, it’s been out there, taken back, out there for a few years now,” Lopez said with a smile. “I know our team is comfortable where we’re at right now. We’re playing well together and we really trust one another, so I think we’re fine how we are. Our group is doing a good job of ignoring them.”