Dwight Howard is still a member of the Orlando Magic, but not because the Nets weren’t serious about acquiring the superstar. (Reuters)
So Dwight Howard remains in Orlando — for now — and the Nets are planning on playing in their sparkling super arena without Superman — for now — and the Knicks finally can exhale.
For now.
And what you are left with, if you have decided to plant your flag in the freshly-formed foundation of the Brooklyn Nets, is this: They were not lying to you when they insisted they were in this with both sleeves rolled up. They have not been misleading anyone with their pledges they intend to play varsity ball at their new address. They are. They do. They are serious as a tax audit about all of this.
Remember that goofy ad they posted within sight of the Garden a couple of years ago, the one that was supposed to shiver the timbers of the Knicks? At the time, it did seem goofy, and presumptuous, and more than a little ridiculous. It seemed — let’s be honest — like more of the same from the Nets, the Nets being the Nets.
Only now that characterization — the Nets being the Nets — seems neither goofy nor pejorative. If what we have seen the past few weeks is what the Nets being the Nets is going to be, then we are officially talking about a team that will never again have to apologize for its mission statement. They are all-in — owner, GM, coach, star, all of them — and they are deadly serious about making Brooklyn more than just a fashionable address, but a genuine, legitimate basketball foothold.
“I think they did themselves prouder the past few weeks than they ever have before, even when they went to the Finals,” a league executive said early last night. “That’s an operation that means business. They couldn’t get this Dwight thing done, but it wasn’t for lack of effort or imagination.”
In the opening moments of their life in Kings County, that is precisely the image they needed to project. Howard’s reputation may have taken a beating the past few months but he is still one of planet Earth’s best half-dozen players and he has been adamant about one thing all across this process: He wants the Nets. He wants the Nets more than the Lakers, wants Brooklyn over Los Angeles, and even if that marriage never happens it is a hell of an endorsement — even if sneaker money is behind much of it.
The fact is, the Nets did everything they could to make this happen, to give their fans — the holdover crew from Jersey, the Knicks defectors, the let’s-try-this-out-for-size bunch, all of them — an immediate contender from Day 1. Again, this may not have worked out with a story-book finish — yet. But they were willing to enter the arena, just a few short years after you wondered if they were modeling their business plan after the CCNY kids who were throwing games back in the day.
It may seem a basic task, a New York team being aggressive in its play for contention, but we’ve seen the Nets play at half-speed before. We saw the Mets invent a hundred different reasons why they didn’t pursue Alex Rodriguez at a moment in time when doing that may have tipped the city’s baseball scales toward Queens. We have seen the Islanders do business for decades. It isn’t just Pittsburgh and Kansas City that attract men of narrow vision and short-sheeted pockets.
The Nets? They are here now. They are players. They may not have completed the dream team — for now — but they made a trade for Joe Johnson that clinched Deron Williams’ retention, and yesterday wisely locked up Brook Lopez rather than play along with the Magic too long. And who knows what might happen between here and January.
Here’s what we do know:
If there is a chance to make the team better — if there’s still a chance to bring Superman to Flatbush — they will be ready to get after it. They may not get it done. But they’re going to get after it. As a fan — new, old, pondering, somewhere in the middle — what more can you ask for?
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com