New Jersey Nets: How to Bring a Dwight Howard-Deron Williams Dynasty to Brooklyn

You know the story. Dwight Howard had dinner with Deron Williams, renewing the Howard-to-New-Jersey trade speculation.

The problem with that, quite frankly, is the Nets suck (a fact illustrated by the Magic's 94-78 win over the Nets). If New Jersey trades for Howard, there will be even less of a supporting cast.

Obviously any team with Williams and Howard would be a good one, but you need some supporting players (especially when you have to face the Heat and the Bulls) to win.

Here are five steps to bring in the star team that Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov desire in time for the big move to Brooklyn.

1. Stay Patient This Season

The Nets need to bite the bullet and risk standing pat this season. They should wait to pull off big trades so they can save their assets.

Of course, their record won't be very good, and that does put them at risk for losing Williams and missing out on Howard. But they must convince Williams of the long-term plan and get him to buy in for one more year.

2. Draft Day Moves

Another positive result of staying patient this season will be a high draft pick. This draft class is projected to be very strong with potential stars throughout the lottery.

The Nets could consider any players at the No. 2, 3 or 4. Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones are among the players that they could consider. Let's assume for the purpose of the article that they land the No. 3 pick and Harrison Barnes.

Next, they should package the pick they will receive from Houston (from the Terrence Williams trade) with Johan Petro to a team with cap space or an exception for a second-round pick. This will clear cap room for free agency.

3. Trade for a Supporting Star

The next part of the plan involves trading for a potential third wheel. It generally takes three big-time players or a deep squad with a lot of chemistry to win.

Barnes, or whoever they draft, may be that, but a championship team shouldn't have to count on a rookie.

Among the players that New Jersey could pursue include Andre Iguodala, Gerald Wallace and Kevin Martin. We'll say that they acquire Josh Smith for the purpose of the article.

This would involve either a sign-and-trade of Brook Lopez or an extension of Lopez before the deadline this year. The deal would be headlined by Lopez but would also include young forward Damion James, backup point guard Jordan Farmar and the draft rights to European shooter Bojan Bogdanovic.

This would be a good deal for both teams. Atlanta would fill three positions of need; a very good young starting center, a small, backup forward and a backup point guard.

Smith would fit right in as the starting power forward for the Nets, and not insignificantly, is close with Dwight Howard himself.

4. Make the BIG MOVE

After steps one to three, the Nets would have salaries of roughly $25.5 milllion committed to five players (Smith, Barnes, Morrow, Brooks, S. Williams). This would leave them with about $32.5 million in cap room, not quite enough for two max contracts.

To get their guys, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, there are two options here for the Nets:

1. Clear further cap room by giving away role players Anthony Morrow and Shawne Williams; or

2. Convince Howard and Williams to go the Heat route and accept a little less than the max.

Obviously, door No. 2 is the one they would prefer to open.

The Nets would now be in a good position to sell Howard and Williams on playing together in Brooklyn. They are guaranteed a large market with plenty of advertising, a strong supporting cast that looks good for year and owners that wants to win.

They will be likely be competing with Dirk Nowitzki, Marc Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. But Dallas also has work to do to clear enough space for both of them and wouldn't really have a supporting cast besides Dirk.

Don't get me wrong, Dirk himself would be nice, but it may not be as appealing as the situation in Brooklyn.  

Deron Williams quietly joins Josh Smith on ESPN, announcing that he is signing with the Nets for a reduced rate.

Dwight Howard, who loves the free-agency attention, releases a full movie in which he announces he is bringing his talents to Brooklyn at the end.

Prokhorov throws a huge multi-million dollar party to celebrate the signing of Howard and Williams.

5. Round out the Roster

What the Nets would have looks pretty good so far:

C Howard

PF Smith

SF Barnes

SG Morrow

PG Williams

Bench: Brooks and Williams

Barnes is obviously a nice young player and a potential star. Morrow will have plenty of opportunities with his dead-eye shooting spacing the floor.

Brooks is a nice scoring sixth man, and Williams provides defense and shooting at the small forward position.

Still, there are a few spots to fill still. The Nets would have the "we used all our cap space" room exception ($2.5 million) and the veteran's minimum to pick up a few more players.

They should try and convince Memo Okur to come back for the room exception and Sundiata Gaines at the minimum to back up Williams.

After that, there should be enough role-playing, title-seeking vets to fill out the roster nicely.