Raise your hand if you’ve heard this before: The Nets view their chances to eventually land Dwight Howard as anywhere from “favorable” to “confident” to plain old “good.”
All those who remember the Knicks’ pursuit of Carmelo Anthony last season, put your hands down. But the Nets like where they are.
The Magic have tried everything to keep Howard, 26, but little suggests the franchise center is amenable to remaining in central Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reported that, despite Howard’s recent endorsements of the Bulls and Celtics, his preferred landing spots remain the Nets, Lakers and Mavericks. There will be talk, but the Nets do not expect Howard to be dealt before All-Star weekend, Feb. 24-26 in Orlando.
The Nets had eight bodies available against the Pistons on Wednesday, and should be shorthanded tonight against the Timberwolves. So what? The real help is coming, they think and hope, maybe by the March 15 trade deadline. Or during summer free agency.
Several persons claiming knowledge of some of Howard’s thinking insist he does not look that favorably upon the Lakers because of the mega-shadow cast by Shaquille O’Neal, who left Orlando and won three titles in Los Angeles. Howard could do without following those footsteps, makingThat makes the Nets the heavy favorites among his preferred teams.
Howard and his camp reportedly have warned teams about going the rental route, thinking they could deal for him, then convince him to stay.
“To bring in a player of that magnitude without assurances he’d be staying would be professional suicide,” one team executive said flatly.
The Nets have been quietly confident all along about Howard. As the Knicks thought about Anthony last year, the Nets and obviously believe if they land him they can keep him. And they believe they can land him. So some around the Nets have used those buzzwords “favorable … strong … good.”
“We’re more than just ‘in the mix,’ ” said one source.
Because the All-Star Game is in Orlando, the Nets know the Magic envisioned a weekend “Superman” celebration, and would cringe at the thought of Howard representing another team in the arena that pretty much was built for him. That’s a reason to do nothing beforehand.
But how enjoyable will the Magic find an entire weekend of national coverage devoted to where Howard wants to play? That’s a reason to do something beforehand.
At least one person around the Magic feels Dallas is a bigger free-agency threat than the Nets. The speculated scenario has both Howard and Deron Williams landing there as free agents. The Mavericks trail in any trade scenario because they lack assets. Again, the Nets are favored.
One possible reason for the Magic to let Howard become a free agent is the belief he won’t walk away from money in the $25 million range — what he could lose signing for four years with another club. But the thought Howard would risk that fifth-year cash for the lure of Brooklyn and its business opportunities could force Orlando to make a deal which would bring assets and also allow the Magic to unload Hedo Turkoglu’s $11.8 million contract.
As for business endeavors, the Magic note Howard was the world’s 19th highest paid athlete last year, with earnings of $27.6 million. Among current NBA stars, only Kobe Bryant and LeBron James made more.
But bright lights, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s global platform and the fact Williams is Howard’s good friend are tough to resist. The Nets have waited patiently, cringing when center Brook Lopez broke his foot (though they believe he will return strong).
Lopez, enough draft picks to choke a mule plus pieces that almost certainly would include MarShon Brooks, could form the package to help them pull off a deadline deal for Howard. If they do, they could re-sign Howard to a five-year deal worth over $100 million this summer.
So they feel good about their position. Again.