Brook Lopez Injury: How Ankle Injury Could Impact Dwight Howard Talks

I find myself thinking about Dwight Howard often these days. Where will he be traded? Will he be traded? What would it take for him to re-sign with the Orlando Magic? How could they possibly make a deal to bring in appealing pieces with the assets they currently have?

And what can Orlando expect to get in return if he is traded?

More and more, the answer to that last questions seems to be "dwindling returns," especially with the health of Brook Lopez continuously in question.

We get the news on the latest Lopez injury from Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger:

"

Brook Lopez left the locker room on crutches but was expected to fly with the team to Miami, where the Nets traveled to face the Heat Tuesday night.

Coach Avery Johnson said Lopez, who the Nets said turned his right ankle, had the ankle X-rayed, but the coach did not say whether the X-rays were negative, replying only, “He’s gonna to get reevaluated (today).”

"

There you have it, Orlando fans: The top asset from the team you're most likely to deal Dwight Howard to is hurt again. Aren't you glad Dwight Howard decided to put the Brooklyn Nets atop that little wish-list thing everyone keeps talking about?

At this point, Howard's very narrow idea of which teams he would be willing to play for has limited Orlando's trade market so much that their best bet probably is to attempt to make a deal of their own to pair Howard with another elite player.

That's what one would imagine they've wanted to do all along, but it didn't seem realistic.

But anymore, it just seems like the prudent thing to do.

Sure, Brook Lopez is better than nothing, but he is starting to seem like a pretty disappointing centerpiece in what should be a blockbuster deal for the team. Don't think the Magic are seriously monitoring his health.

So yes, I find myself thinking about Dwight Howard a lot these days. Where he'll end up next year, what he's worth in a trade and why something in his season-long saga can't just freaking happen already.

Brook Lopez's latest injury is certainly an impediment to that taking place.

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