NBA Trade News: Dwight Howard Wouldn't Make Nets a Playoff Team Right Away

For the 8-16 New Jersey Nets, you jump at the chance to land a player of Dwight Howard's caliber.

But the Nets wouldn't be instant playoff contenders if a deal between the Nets and Orlando Magic took place.

Howard has long been linked to the Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, but Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD wrote on Friday:

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Multiple sources believe Howard will force his way to the Nets and he certainly has leverage, just like Carmelo Anthony had last year when he would only agree to sign an extension with the New York Knicks. Howard wants to team up with Deron Williams, loves the idea of playing in Brooklyn and knows that the front office will involve him in the decision-making process.

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Right now, there are a lot of signs pointing to Howard being traded to the Nets by the March 1 deadline.

However, while a duo of Howard and Williams would set the Nets up down the road, trading for Howard would likely involve many pieces, similar to the Anthony deal last season.

In the Anthony trade, the Denver Nuggets received Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks' 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors' 2012 second-round pick, the Warriors' 2013 second-round pick and $3 million in cash.

Using the ESPN Trade Machine, John Hollinger constructed a deal that would make sense for Howard:

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The deal is Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon and Hedo Turkoglu to New Jersey for (MarShon) Brooks,(Kris) Humphries, Brook Lopez and Mehmet Okur. The Nets could actually get a $3.1 million trade exception for Lopez as well, while the Magic would get one worth $3.2 million for Duhon.

In addition, New Jersey can include four first-round picks: Its own picks in 2012, 2014 and 2016, and a pick owed to it by Houston from the Terrence Williams trade. It's the best way to get Orlando out of its salary-cap mess and give it the pieces to rebuild, and obviously it puts New Jersey in great shape with a Howard-Williams core.

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The problem with this deal is it basically strips the Nets of a solid up-and-coming player in Brooks, as well as their top two big men and leaves them little room to improve significantly in the draft the next few years.

In that regard, it's a more of a slippery slope than you would think. Yes, the Nets will have two superstars in Howard and Williams, but what will they have left?

The proposed trade would set the Nets up for the long term, but fans shouldn't expect success right away.