NBA Trade Deadline 2012: New Jersey Nets Fans Biggest Losers at Deadline
Just when you thought the New Jersey Nets were on their way out of the cellar and into contention for years to come, all their hopes came crashing down at the 3 PM NBA trade deadline on March 15th.
The reason for that?
The decision by Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard to stay with the only team he's ever known for another season and in turn, spurning the Nets and their fans.
By all indications, it was a shoe-in the entire season that D12 wanted to be a Net. D12 wanted to globalize his brand and the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets were the best team and place for him to do that.
But as the deadline came and went, Howard made no such move. Instead, he did the opposite and stayed with the Magic.
Now, the Nets find themselves in a precarious position because their All-Star point guard, Deron Williams, will almost certainly leave now that the best center in the league has decided not to join him in New Jersey.
It's widely believed that without D12, Williams will move on to play in his hometown of Dallas and join the Mavericks as a free agent this offseason.
After all, who can blame him? Dallas is, at this moment, his best option for the long term and undoubtedly his best option if the all-world point guard wants to win a championship.
That wasn't the case just 24 hours ago.
This is nothing short of a disaster for not only the Nets organization, but their fans as well.
Sure, owners Mikhail Prokhorov and rapper Jay-Z are probably feeling the blues at this point, but they get to go home to their billions and live the good life only to forget their recent failures.
For Nets fans who live and die with their team, it isn't quite that easy.
It's been four seasons since New Jersey has been to the playoffs and it's been almost 10 years since they've made it past the second round. It seems like a lifetime ago since they made two-straight NBA finals only to lose both.
Since that time, New Jersey has gone from serious contender to laughingstock of the NBA and it's been tough to be a Nets fan.
And just when you thought it would get easier, it's about to get a whole hell of a lot harder. The light at the end of the tunnel has been blocked for the time being.
Instead of acquiring Howard at the deadline, Nets fans got Gerald Wallace.
What a let down.
And instead of featuring a lineup with D-Will and D12 for their new arena in Brooklyn next season, it'll be Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks and the Hump himself, Kris Humphries—not exactly as sexy as the ladder.
The Nets will do their best to keep D-Will in Brooklyn past this season, but without D12 that becomes nearly impossible. And without D-Will, the Nets will once again have to start rebuilding before they even got the chance to do so in the first place, not to mention all the young talent and picks it took to acquire Williams.
That means more frustration and disappointment for their fans who were almost promised a winning team for next season.
It's incredible how far and wide the domino effect of Howard's decision will reach. As much as Howard has saved one fan base, he inadvertently crushed another.
Keep those heads up, Nets fans. Your time will come.
