Christmas could come early for the Nets.
League sources confirmed to The Post on Saturday night that Dwight Howard has requested a trade to the Nets, bringing the franchise one step closer to their dream partnership of Howard and star point guard Deron Williams.
“You only get one time around,” Howard told reporters last night in Orlando. “You get one chance at this. You can’t press the reset button.
“Once this is done — once I’m done playing — I can’t turn back the hands of time and play again.”
Howard’s decision to request a trade away from Orlando, which took him with the first overall pick in 2004, comes on the heels of Magic general manager Otis Smith granting permission to Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan, to speak with three teams – the Lakers, Mavericks and Nets – about a possible deal on Friday.
The Nets would be able to offer the Magic a combination of both future potential and salary cap relief, with the Magic assuredly looking for both in any trade that would see them trade away the league’s best big man. The Nets would send center Brook Lopez to the Magic, along with a pair of 2012 first-round picks – their own, as well as Houston’s, which is lottery-protected. They also would be able to take back Hedo Turkoglu’s millstone of a contract, which has roughly $34 million remaining over the next three years. It’s possible that any deal could also be expanded to add a third or even fourth team, in order to give the Magic additional pieces in exchange for Howard.
The Lakers are the other clear contender for Howard, as they have both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to offer to the Magic. It initially appeared the Lakers would be out of the running for Howard because of their pursuit of Hornets point guard Chris Paul. But after an initial three-team deal between the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets was vetoed by NBA commissioner David Stern Thursday, ESPN.com reported that an attempt to reconstruct the deal broke down late last night.
In the proposed trade for Paul, the Lakers would have sent Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom to New Orleans, leaving them with Bynum — and little else — to offer Orlando in a swap for Howard. But by pulling out of the talks for Paul, the Lakers seemed to be shifting their focus towards Howard, who would become the latest in a long line of superstar centers to play for the franchise.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, can offer cap relief, thanks to some expiring contracts and the remainder of the trade exception they received from the Chandler sign-and-trade. But Dallas would have little else to offer the Magic, as the only young pieces with any value on their roster are guards Roddy Beaubois and Rudy Fernandez.
For the Nets, landing Howard would complete their master plan of having a star player to pair with point guard Deron Williams as the team prepares to move across the Hudson River to Brooklyn and the Barclays Center next season. Williams has said that if the Nets were able to land Howard, he definitely would re-sign with the franchise next summer.
If Howard is dealt to the Nets by Jan. 1, he would be eligible to opt-out of his contract on July 1 and, like Williams, receive a max-deal of five years and roughly $109 million.