Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Brook Lopez Injury Not the End of Nets' D12 Hopes

Things were going smoothly and on track for the New Jersey Nets to land Dwight Howard in a trade with the Orlando Magic at the deadline until the Nets' major piece of that deal, Brook Lopez, sprained his ankle. 

He's expected to miss three weeks.

The latest injury to Lopez comes just a few weeks after the Nets' center recovered from a broken foot, which kept him out until the NBA All-Star break in late February.

That injury, which was just as troublesome for the Nets' hopes of landing D12 as this one, was healed at what seemed to be the perfect time for Lopez to audition for his potential new team.

But now that Lopez is out again, it brings into question how viable he will be as a trade piece for Howard. It will only cast further doubt as to the long-term health of Lopez, and if he is truly worthy enough to accept in return for the best center in the NBA.

At the very least, the Nets still have one major advantage going for them.

Despite the Magic having the right to trade Howard wherever they want, D12 can block any trade by simply refusing to sign an extension with any team but the Nets.

Such a scenario could force Magic general manager Otis Smith's hand into making a deal with New Jersey despite Lopez's injury status. That, of course, would be entirely up to them.

On the other hand, the Magic may not trade Howard at all because of a combination of Lopez's injury and the fact that there simply is not enough of a return out there for Howard. In that case, Orlando will be playing Russian roulette the way the Cleveland Cavaliers did with LeBron James, and we all know how that turned out.

It could end up being a positive situation for New Jersey in that instance. The Nets could get their hands on Howard via free agency and hold onto the several attractive players that have emerged this season that otherwise would have been trade bait for D12.

Of course, worst case scenario is that Howard is in such a rush to get out of Orlando that he goes to a second destination, perhaps either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Dallas Mavericks as both teams were on his reported wish list not too long ago.

However, Dallas has nothing of value on their aged roster to trade to a team that will almost certainly have to rebuild. The Lakers do have an attractive piece in Andrew Bynum, but it has also been reported that the Magic have no interest in the young center with bad knees.

Pau Gasol is another possibility but is far too old to rebuild with at this point.

If the Lakers threw both big men into the mix they would instantly be favorites to land Howard, but Los Angeles has been unwilling to go that far.

Is this a big blow to the Nets chances of landing Howard? 

In a sense, yes.

But that certainly isn't the end to the Nets chances as I eluded to above. Howard still controls where he wants to go, and if he wants to end up in Brooklyn, he'll force the Magic general manager to make the trade anyway—or he can simply wait to join the Nets in Brooklyn during the 2012 free-agency period.